The Longest Night
by TooManyIdeas14
Summary: In our memories lie the light. Axel, Roxas and Xion have been sent to Castle Oblivion on a mysterious mission. As their friendship is tested, and they discover things they were never meant to know, they learn the value of time and memories. Part Four of the Reluctant Father series. RokuShi and platonic AkuRokuShi. Rated T for safety. Written for NaNoWriMo 2015. IN PROGRESS.
1. Chapter 1

**Before I begin, yes, I am doing NaNoWriMo, and yes, I will be including the author notes in my word count. :)**

 **This is the fourth chapter in my pride and joy, the Reluctant Father series, my official 358/2 Days AU. This series hasn't had much in the way of plot development since Invader in February. That will not do! So, I am writing this to remedy the situation, posting as I go along.**

 **Note for newcomers: This is a major AU, where Saix is nice, Xion has a title and more. It is highly recommended that you read at least Invader before proceeding if this story is to make a lick of sense to you. Don't worry, I'll wait.**

 **With that out of the way, we shall start with something never before seen in the RF universe. We will start with a reference to the day number. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix. I do not stand to profit from this work in any way. And yes, I'm including the disclaimer in the word count, too. We don't want it to sit around being the useless hunk of words it really is, now do we? :)**

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 **The Longest Night**

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 _In our memories lie the light._

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 **Chapter I**

 **Broken Glass**

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 _Day 212_

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The lights of the Round Room bored down on Saix, as hot as any desert sun. The monthly meeting wouldn't be for another few hours, but Lord Xemnas had called him here. This usually meant that he wanted something, which was a big deal because Xemnas never wanted something. In general, he let events take their course, not meddling in the whims of destiny and the mighty Kingdom Hearts. So calling the Luna Diviner to a closed-doors meeting was an unprecedented move.

As it turned out, Xemnas _did_ want something. And Saix knew that a certain trio would _not_ like it.

"We have found the True Keybearer," Xemnas said in that almighty tone that said clearly _I rule all._ "His wanderings have finally led him to Castle Oblivion, or at least, they will very soon."

Saix leaned back, stroking his chin. "Then it should be easy enough to ambush and kill him."

"Ah, but you miss the true potential of this." Xemnas looked up, as if basking in light. "If we kill him, we eliminate a threat. But if we _use_ him…then we turn the threat against itself."

"You're suggesting we capture him?"

Xemnas shook his head, as if disappointed at Saix for repeatedly missing the point. "In the end, that would only result in the same consequences as killing. The threat is gone, but no further benefit is gained. What we must do…is _manipulate_ the True Keybearer."

Saix sighed. He should have guessed. "Superior, with all due respect, I do believe that it would be simpler to just kill him."

"The simplest plan is not always the best one, Number VII."

"Neither is the most complex. Empires have fallen because their emperors favored an overly intricate road, thinking the simple solution was 'too obvious'."

More headshaking from Xemnas. "Is there any particular reason you are so opposed to this plan? Have Number VIII and the children made you soft?"

For the slightest fraction of a second, Saix tensed. But it faded as quickly as it had come. "Ridiculous. I merely have concerns about the merits of attempting to manipulate Sora, who we know from our own experience is dangerous."

"Ah, but that is the greatest beauty of all. The True Keybearer _will_ be dangerous. He is not such at this point in time. If we strike now, we can use that potential…we can craft him into the most powerful weapon ever created."

Saix considered this. "…Fair enough. What do you want me to do?"

"A nine-man team should be enough. You may send whoever you wish, with one caveat…" Xemnas leaned forward. "There are four people who _must_ be on this assignment."

Saix nodded. "And those are?"

"Number XI, as he is the one who found Sora, and…" Xemnas paused, as if considering his decision one more time. "…Axel, Roxas and Xion."

Saix blinked. "Sir…I can understand Axel, but sending our Keybearers would halt heart collection entirely…to say nothing of what may happen should they discover the Replica Program."

Xemnas leaned back again, surveying the room. "Number VII…we are attempting to ensnare a new Keybearer, and we are sending his spawn on a dangerous mission to do it. Surely, you understand what I am hinting at."

Saix never gasped. Ever. The only mark of shock he showed was a slight tilting of his left eyebrow. "Sir…they are still of use to us."

"Our plans were already falling apart when 'it' became 'she'. But as you have just noted, they were still of use to us, collecting hearts. When Roxas developed impossible feelings for the Replica, my concern grew, but again, they still had purpose. But if our plan succeeds, they will be rendered obsolete."

Saix stared straight at the Superior. "And if it fails, we will be left with nothing."

"Do you really think I was so idiotic as to not have more replica wielders in reserve for just such an occasion?" Xemnas stared into empty space. "Our current wielders are as broken glass. No matter how much you may love a glass, no matter how many drinks it may have given you, when it develops the slightest crack, it must be thrown away and a new one acquired, for if you were to drink out of it…you would cut yourself."

Saix was losing control of the situation, even as he kept his cool. "Perhaps we could use all three, and—"

"Number VII."

Xemnas putting on a harsh tone was the fastest way to shut any member of the Organization up, including Saix.

After a long silence, Xemnas spoke again, in his usual cool tone. "Why does your trust for me continue to deteriorate?"

Saix shook his head. "My trust in your word has never wavered."

"Then why do you not follow my orders without question?"

"Because I still see a use in Roxas and Xion."

Xemnas narrowed his eyes. For a moment that felt like forever, Saix was certain that his time was almost over.

"…Number VII. You will carry out my orders or you will be terminated, to be replaced with someone more useful. That is final."

After another long moment, Saix nodded. "Yes, sir. I will handle matters as per your orders."

"Good. And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Be careful not to cut yourself on the broken glass. If the cut itself doesn't destroy you…I will."

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Xion held Axel's hand tight. "I don't want to go."

Axel was staring out into the Twilight Town sunset. He seemed sad…but he covered it up quickly. "Why not?"

Xion rubbed her hands through her hair. "I have a really, really, _really_ bad feeling about it, okay? What's the name again…"

Roxas bit into his ice cream, looking at Xion with concern. "Castle Oblivion."

Xion grabbed her stomach as it did flips. "Yes!" she shouted. "The _name_ makes me sick!"

Xion felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see that Axel had moved so that he was to her left. "Calm down. You'll be fine."

Xion looked back at the sunset. "You don't sound like you mean that…"

Axel's silence was more deafening than any roar. "…I promise that you're going to be okay. I _promise._ "

"If I'm going to be fine, then why does…that stupid name make me feel sick?"

More silence. "…Because you're worrying yourself too much."

Xion stood up and looked Axel in the eye. "You're a horrible liar."

Axel stood up as well, more slowly. "Xion…please…"

Xion felt tears coming to her eyes. "Why are you lying?"

"Xion, I'm telling you, you'll be fine."

"Stop lying."

"Xion, you will be fine."

Xion could feel herself crying more than she ever had in her life, and her voice cracked. _"Stop lying!"_

Axel grabbed Xion's arms and held her in place. For the first time, he seemed genuinely angry with her. "Xion. If you don't go, they're not going to bother making you a Dusk. They will _kill_ you. _Do you understand?"_

The silence that followed was the longest of them all.

"…Why," Xion whispered, shaking her head. "Why, why, why…"

Axel kept his grip tight. "Because that's how they do things."

"Why, why, why…" Xion tried to shake Axel's grip. "Why, why, why…"

"You're going to stay here until you calm down."

Xion only struggled harder. _"No!"_

Axel closed his eyes. "Xion, you have to stop."

"No!"

"Xion—"

Roxas slammed into Axel, making him let go for the split second needed for Xion to step back a few paces. Then he ran over to her and held her tight, cradling her head. "It's okay…it's okay…"

Xion was still staring at Axel over Roxas' shoulder. "Why…why…"

Axel got up, but before he could do anything, Roxas opened a dark corridor, scowling at him. "Friends don't lie," the boy hissed as he walked Xion through.

Axel was left alone. So, he did what he always did when he was alone. He sat down and, having lost his appetite, threw the remains of his ice cream off the tower.

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Roxas sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Xion's hair as she wept into her pillow. Actually, he was crying, too. He felt as though his whole reality, while not shattered, had just received a huge crack, and could break at the slightest pinprick. But he was trying his best to keep his composure for Xion. He had helped her through enough nightmares and storms to know that once she cried herself out, she would either be fine, or else essentially pass out, wake up the next morning and _then_ be fine. He had promised himself he wouldn't truly cry until Xion was out cold.

Xion made a loud sniffle. "Why…"

Roxas just kept stroking her hair. "No tears, just dreams…"

She was quiet for a second. "Why did…why did he lie?"

Roxas faked a cough to cover up his own slow breakdown. "Because he's a jerk."

Xion shivered. "But he isn't…that's the horrible part, I know he isn't a jerk, he's my best friend…why…"

"It doesn't matter."

Xion coughed, as if she had tried to cry more but she had run out of tears. "It does…it does matter, because he's our friend…"

Roxas decided not to say _he isn't my friend anymore._ Instead, he said, "It doesn't matter right now. Sleep matters right now."

Xion shook her head. "I can't go to Cast…cast…that horrible, horrible place. I just can't, I can't, I can't, I can't…"

Roxas crawled into bed next to Xion and wrapped his arm around her, wiping tears off her face. "I'll be there. And I'll keep you safe. Because I love you."

Xion sniffled again, holding Roxas' arm with both of her own. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Xion took a deep breath. The exhale was shaky. "…Okay."

Roxas wiped Xion's tears off her face and gently closed her eyes, kissing her on the back of the head. "Sweet dreams now…you're going to have really sweet dreams with lots of ice cream…"

Xion gripped Roxas' arm tight. "…Will I…wake up in the morning?"

Roxas nodded. "Of course you will."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

After a second, Xion gave Roxas' arm one more tight squeeze. "Okay."

With that, Xion was out like a light. Her grip loosened, sliding down onto the bed. Roxas was too exhausted to stay awake and register anything else, even the tears that were still streaking down his own face.

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 **And there we go, a nice, dramatic chapter to kick off the biggest story yet. This should be interesting. Also…I maaaaay have shameless taken lyrics from a Three Days Grace song as inspiration for the chapter title and some of the dialogue. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated (yes, even with NaNo!). Thanks for reading, and tune in next time for chapter two! If I write well, it might even be today! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here is chapter two for your entertainment. I'm already on a roll with this. It'll be updated** _ **at least**_ **once a day, which is far more than can be said for Unforgettable. :P Enjoy the chapter! :)**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter II**

 **Welcome to Castle Oblivion**

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" _To enter the place, you must lose what you love most. What do you love most?"_

 _My friends._

" _Then you will lose your friends."_

 _I'm not going to enter, then._

" _But my puppet, you are already inside…"_

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The next day, Xion was woken up early by Roxas. She still felt terrible. She had a headache that hurt just enough to be constant and annoying, and it took three huge glasses of water for her to stop feeling like all the fluid in her body had been sucked out.

All in all, she was definitely not in the mood to go to the Bad Place (as she had taken to calling that stupid castle). But she didn't have a choice. Really, it felt like the old days of loneliness and being called an 'it'.

She looked up from her bowl of cereal—she was eating breakfast in the Grey Area. "Roxas?"

Roxas pulled his spoon out of his mouth and swallowed. "Yeah?"

"Are you getting a bad feeling, too?"

Roxas considered the question for a second. "…Sort of. I'm not getting a _horrible_ feeling, like getting sick from the name…actually, what are you feeling, do you think?"

Xion held her chest. "When I hear the name, I get this really panicky feeling inside. Like…I _know_ I'm not supposed to go there, no matter what, that the one place I am not supposed to go to is that place. I feel like someone came up to me one day and told me, 'don't go _here,_ if you go _here,_ something horrible will happen to you.'"

Roxas scratched his arm. "That's…sort of how I feel. Not as strong. More like I was told that if I went there, I would get in trouble."

"Maybe we really were told that, but it was early on, so we don't remember it?"

Roxas shrugged. "That's possible. We should ask…" He was silent for a long moment. "…No. We shouldn't."

Xion held Roxas' shoulder. "Are you mad at him?"

Roxas suddenly became very interested in his bowl of cereal. "Mad at who?"

"You know who. Don't pretend that you don't."

Roxas took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yes. I am very, very mad at him."

"Please don't be mad at him."

"Friends don't lie."

Xion gave Roxas a tight squeeze. "Friends also don't hold grudges. Friends forgive each other."

"If there's been an apology."

"You'd feel better if he apologized?"

Roxas sighed and looked Xion in the eye. "He's not going to. Whatever he's trying to hide, it's something important enough to him that he won't give up on the lie unless he absolutely has to."

Xion looked down. "He's our best friend."

Roxas opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, he closed it again. "…I don't want him to hurt you," he said finally.

"Hurt me?" Xion stared straight at Roxas. "He would never hurt me."

"…Can I be honest for a second?"

"Be honest always."

Roxas bit his lip. "…I think you trust him too much."

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The girl loved to draw. She had scoured this whole castle for things to draw. Admittedly, most of the white halls were poor subjects for a drawing, but she still faithfully put everything down because it was something to draw, and she loved drawing. When she was drawing, she felt content. She didn't need anything else.

But she remembered every single thing she drew, and it came to her attention that she had run out of things to draw.

She had attempted writing a few times, but she always found that it wasn't nearly as satisfying. Words were meant to create images, not copy them down. Plus, the prose wasn't exactly inspired— _Long hallway. Big, white vase with white flowers in it. Really big doors._

So, the girl sat around, trying to figure out what to do. She looked around the room and decided that there was no particular reason she couldn't just start over. She looked around her room, trying to decide where she should start. The big table in the center was too easy, but the rest of the room was boring. Maybe she could draw that big, black portal behind her…

Wait. That had never been there before.

As she watched the portal, something—no, some _one—_ stepped out of it, and she jumped. The portal vanished, and there stood what seemed to be a man in a black cloak. It occurred to her that she had never actually seen a man before…or a woman, or indeed, anyone other than herself. She hadn't even known there were other people, not that she had given that subject too much thought.

The man walked forward in huge strides, like he owned everything his feet touched. That irked the girl a bit—this was her home, her room. What right did this guy have to just waltz in and start acting like everything was his?

Soon enough, the man had reached her position. He laid a heavy hand on her shoulder and squeezed…like he owned her, too. "Do you have a name?"

The girl thought about it. "…What's a name?" she asked. _Have I ever talked before? No…_

The man laughed a bit, a small yet chilling laugh. "That's what you call yourself. I call myself Marluxia. What do you call yourself?"

The girl looked down. "…I don't call myself anything…"

"It's time you started then. I suggest you call yourself…" Marluxia hummed in thought. "…Namine. Do you like that name?"

"…Yes. It's very pretty."

"Good. Now, do you remember how you got here?"

Namine took a second to access her memories. "Yes…I woke up in this room, and…actually, I'll draw it, watch…"

She grabbed her sketchbook, flipped it to an empty page and drew herself waking up in the same chair she was sitting in. This was her best drawing yet, far more satisfying than any she had drawn in the past. She loved every second of it.

When she was done, she held the drawing up to Marluxia. "See?"

Marluxia took the sketchbook and looked at the drawing. "…Did you enjoy this?"

Namine nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh."

"Do you want to draw more memories? Perhaps…all of them?"

Namine could feel herself bouncing. "I'd love to!"

To Namine's naïve, socially deprived brain, Marluxia's sinister scheming grin registered as a sign that he was happy for her…

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Roxas had no idea why Marluxia had bothered with a scouting mission. This place was the most boring place in existence. All he knew was that he didn't like being stuffed in this dark, slightly dank basement with Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen. At least Xion was there with him and _Axel_ wasn't.

After a quick tour and a promise that the place would be much more interesting once Sora came along— _not him again_ crossed Roxas' mind every time the name was mentioned—they had been shown their rooms. He and Xion were to share a room, which he was perfectly fine with. The lighting was orange, not unlike the Twilight Town sunset. The furniture consisted of a wooden desk with two chairs, situated in the back of the room, along with a bunk bed. It looked like it was made for little kids—it had a staircase instead of a ladder.

Roxas watched as Xion ripped the blanket off of the top bunk and put one of the long edges under the mattress, making a screen. Clearly, one of the bunks was not going to be used. She crawled inside the 'tent', and Roxas followed her in. It felt nice inside, like sitting in a closet.

He held Xion on the shoulder. "How do you feel now?"

Xion coughed a few times. "Sorry," she said, her voice raspy. "My voice gave out when I stepped in, it just came back…the bad feeling is worse than it was before, but not as bad as when we were higher up."

Roxas sighed. "I saw you get really pale when we went up to the third floor."

"I was getting a serious headache…I'm glad we didn't go any farther…" Xion reached into her pocket and pulled out two seashells, handing one to Roxas. "Can you keep this with you, please?"

Roxas nodded, sticking the seashell in his own pocket. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

Xion rubbed her forehead. "Because I want us to remember each other…sorry, I still have a headache…"

Roxas pulled her closer. "I'd never forget you."

"I know, but…" Xion sighed. "I hate this place. I feel like it's trying to snatch all my memories away…"

"Are you forgetting things?"

"No, but I feel like I will if I'm not careful…"

Roxas hugged Xion as tightly as he could. "I won't forget you. And you won't forget me. I promise."

Xion gave him a quick peck on the forehead and smiled. "Thank you. This will be easier with you."

"I'll make sure of that. I'm always here for you. Always."

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 **Another day, another cute RokuShi moment. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter three!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And here is chapter three, very quick! It's kind of short, but it works. :) Enjoy!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter III**

 **Meet Namine**

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"Sora is almost here. Our plan continues apace."

Larxene put _Marquis de Sade_ back on the coffee table, groaning. "Marluxia, sometimes you sound _exactly_ like Xemnas."

Axel leaned on a nearby wall, crossing his arms. "Or Saix."

"Well now, if I didn't have their inherent leadership qualities, I would not be the lord of this castle, now would I?" Marluxia walked over to Axel. "I will welcome our guest. In the meantime, you are to introduce the children to their new friend."

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Is that really necessary? She's going to be staying up here most of the time."

Marluxia shook his head. "Namine will be moved to the basement as soon as possible. Her old room will be repurposed as a meeting area."

Axel blinked. "…Why? What's the point?"

"Firstly, it will make her harder to find, and the longer we delay Sora and Namine meeting, the better. Second, part of the plan hinges on Roxas and Xion befriending her."

"And what exactly are you planning?"

Marluxia snorted and turned around. "Why so reluctant, Axel? Surely, you aren't _jealous_ of a little girl _,_ hmm?"

Axel hesitated for just a split second, but no more. "Of course not. I'll bring her downstairs in a sec."

Of course, a split second was all Marluxia needed. He made that little creepy laugh. "Very good. I'm certain that they'll all get along swimmingly. Now, then…" He opened a dark corridor. "I'll be off."

When Marluxia was gone, Larxene snickered. "He does have a point about jealousy."

Axel walked off to Namine's room. "Shut your mouth, or it'll freeze that way."

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 _*BZZT*_

" _You are the one who will open the door."_

" _I'm not afraid of the darkness!"_

" _The Keyblade you have…that's what the Heartless are looking for."_

" _I hereby dub thee junior heroes…"_

" _My heart is telling me that you're on the wrong side!"_

" _It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."_

" _But now I know, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!"_

" _There will always be a door to light!"_

 _*BZZT*_

…

 _In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find._

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Xion shot up in bed, screaming her head off. When her head hit something, the screaming got louder. Then she heard a thump, turned around and noticed that Roxas had fallen off the bed, and was now sitting on the floor, wrapped up in the blanket that completed the makeshift tent, looking dazed. That's when she remembered where she was.

She covered her mouth and took a few deep breaths, then got off the bed and sat down next to Roxas. "I'm sorry," she said, grabbing his hand. "I had a really bad dream, I didn't mean to—"

Roxas raised his hand and shushed her. "It's okay, I forgive you…actually, I'm more worried about how you feel right now than how I feel."

Xion held her head. "I don't know, there was too much, too much…"

Roxas got up and pulled her back onto the bed. "It's okay. You're safe now."

Xion sighed. "No. I'm not safe here. Not in this stupid castle. I hate this place so much…"

"I'll keep you safe."

"I know…"

There was a knock at the door. Roxas looked up. "Who is it?" he called.

Axel's voice came through the door. "I need to introduce you to someone."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Send them in.

Xion held Roxas' arm. "Let him come in. I want him."

Roxas looked at Xion for a second, then sighed. "Okay, both of you can come in."

The door opened, and Axel walked in, followed closely by a small blond girl in a white dress. He looked down at her. "Namine, this is Roxas and Xion. Trust me, they don't bite."

Namine bit her lip, staring at the Keybearers from behind Axel. Xion smiled a bit and waved. "Hey. It's nice to meet you."

Namine stayed firmly planted behind Axel, looking up at him. "I don't want to talk to them."

Axel scratched his head. "Why not?"

"…I don't know. Just because."

Xion smiled a little more. "It's okay. I was shy too once. I still am, kinda. But I like you already."

Namine looked into her eyes. "You like me?"

Xion nodded. "Yup! And so does Roxas. Right?"

It took Roxas a second to register the question because he was still giving Axel a cold stare. He jumped. "Oh, uh, yeah!"

Namine giggled a bit, let go of Axel and walked towards them, sitting on the bed next to Xion. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Axel made a small smile. "Oh, Kingdom Hearts, this is adorable…okay, Namine is going to be staying in this room until further notice. Can you make room?"

Roxas and Xion both nodded. "Okay!"

"All right. I'll let you three have fun then. Don't burn down the room."

Axel walked off, closing the door behind him. Xion sighed. She had hoped Axel would stay a little longer. But then again, that would probably mean him and Roxas interacting, which would probably be out of the question for the time being. Even now, Roxas was staring at the door like it was the bane of his nonexistence.

Namine looked at him. "Do you hate him?"

Roxas blinked and looked at Namine. "Um…it's a long story. Don't get involved, okay? It's kind of messy right now."

Namine looked down. "Sorry…you'll be okay, though, right?"

Xion held Namine's shoulder. "We're friends with him. Sometimes, friends get mad at each other, but they work it out. It'll be okay."

"So…friends don't stay mad at each other?"

Xion nodded. "Not unless they did something really bad." _Which I don't think he did,_ she chose not to say.

Namine thought about this. "…Can I be your friend?"

Xion's grin became huge. "Of course you can!"

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter four! And yes, my author notes are going to be kind of short. :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, no more schedule promises. :P With that out of the way, here is chapter four! Enjoy!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter IV**

 **Investigations**

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Axel walked up and down the hallway between floors. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be here until Sora cleared Traverse Town, but he had gotten the urge to take a walk after truly paying attention to the way Roxas had looked at him. That glare had been burned into Axel's eyes.

"So, Roxy is looking at you like you killed his goldfish, huh?"

He rolled his eyes and turned around. It was Xigbar. "It's none of your business," Axel said.

"Trust me, it kind of is my business." Xigbar walked up in front of him with a smirk on his face. "Everything in this castle is my business now."

Axel crossed his arms. "Spying on us for Xemnas or something?"

"For Saix, actually. He suspects that there are traitors among our number, and he assigned me to watch."

Axel snorted. "In that case, you're the worst mole ever. What if I was the traitor, and you just told me who to kill to keep my scheme a secret?"

Xigbar circled Axel, his smirk now even bigger. "Actually, I get to tell you because Saix wants you to be a mole, too."

"Because we have wonderful chemistry, don't we?"

Xigbar spread his hands out. "Hey. I don't hold grudges."

Axel cocked his eyebrow. "If I set your pants on fire right now, it would be the best pun ever."

"Well, it's not like I'm the only liar in this hallway, now am I?"

Axel narrowed his eyes. "You don't know anything."

Xigbar laughed. "Come on now, don't think that I don't know that you and Roxy aren't getting along. You're obviously avoiding each other. It's about Poppet, right? Didn't your mother tell you not to steal other people's girls?"

Axel avoided eye contact just long enough for it to look like simple irritation. "You annoy me on so many levels."

"I think that's in my job description." Xigbar walked up next to Axel and did a stage whisper in his ear. "But there's an incentive…"

"And what would that be?"

"The fact is that even Poppet knows that bad things are going to happen to her here. But if you go along with the plan nicely, we can make all of that go away, and your little sea-salt trio can have the happily ever after you want…"

Axel bit his lip and fell silent for a minute. "…Xion is going to be fine. And so is Roxas."

"Do you _really_ believe that?"

"…No."

"So all you have to do to guarantee their safety is work with me a little…"

Axel took a long, deep breath. "…All right."

Xigbar clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! We're going to get along just fine as long as you work with me."

"How are you going to keep Roxas and Xion safe?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, now. Just trust me…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xion hated leaving her room. The only place where she felt safe (well, not about to have a sudden case of amnesia, at least) in this castle was in the bed, with the blanket up, holding Roxas' hand. She had nightmares whenever she slept now, so instead she would lay in bed and have Roxas keep her awake while she laid down and closed her eyes. It wasn't even close to being the same as real sleep, and it showed, but it was better than passing out in the middle of a meeting or waking up from a short nap shrieking like a banshee.

It'd be different if she had any actual responsibilities here to keep her busy, but the most she ever had to do was maybe put the dishes in the dishwasher after meals. (Having an actual _dishwasher_ may have been the one advantage of the place.) Back home, she would have enjoyed being able to relax all the time…but in this place, she felt like she needed some kind of busywork to do to take her mind off all the stress of just being inside the castle. It didn't help that Namine didn't talk to them much—she always seemed hard at work, drawing pictures. Xion always found that looking at those pictures gave her a headache, so she tried not to pay attention to them.

She had been planning some more time for 'half-napping' when Zexion had called a meeting. For the most part, she was glad it was Zexion and not Vexen who was in charge here. But living next to him in a mildly cramped basement was a bit different from sharing a massive castle with him. As it turned out, the whole 'all I do all day is read' thing was an act. In reality, Zexion made for a cool, calculating leader who could put anyone in line, including Vexen. He was intimidating, to say the least.

So, Xion's inferiority complex told her that this meeting was about her. She clearly hadn't been doing enough work, Vexen had told her as much (at least, for the ten seconds it took for Zexion to notice and send him a quick glare). Obviously, she was in trouble. This place in general made the inferiority complex go through the roof.

Zexion noticed how she was looking down at her lap. "Look up."

Xion just shrank a little more. "Why?"

"Well, how are you ever going to pay attention if you're distracted by your amazing lap?"

Xion couldn't help but smile a bit, though it faded quickly. She managed to look up. "Am I in trouble?"

Zexion raised his eyebrow. "Why would you be in trouble? You've done nothing of importance since you got here."

"That's exactly it, isn't it?"

Zexion shook his head. "This meeting isn't about you. Trust me, Vexen is handling his workload just fine."

Vexen mumbled a bit to himself, and Xion covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing. She nodded at Zexion. "Okay."

Zexion sighed and sat down at the head of the table. "I've detected an odd smell in the lower levels."

Roxas, who was sitting to Xion's right, tilted his head. "We have to declutter again?"

Zexion took a deep breath. "…No. Everyone has their own aura. I can smell that aura."

Roxas bit his lip. "Oh."

"Anyway…it smelled like the Superior. Like darkness."

Xion shrank back a little more. "You mean Xemnas is here?"

"No. The person I detected, whoever it may be, has a very strong heart. I could tell."

Lexaeus leaned back in his chair. "One of Sora's friends, perhaps?"

Zexion scratched his chin. "Maybe. But if you're saying he's making a multi-pronged attack, I don't think so. It's obvious that he came across this place by accident. How would he be able to plan such a thing?"

Roxas thought for a second. "What if he did come on purpose, and he's just faking us?"

"That's an idea. We do know he's capable of impressive strategy…but Xion said that the Sora we faced previously was from some future time period, correct?"

Xion blinked, then nodded. "That's right."

"So he's probably not at the same level of expertise in this time period. So again, all signs point to this person being on a separate mission, if not being separate from Sora entirely."

Vexen clasped his hands together. "I say we just go down and deal with them now."

Xion nodded. "I never thought I'd agree with Vexen, but yeah, I think we should get him while he's still alone."

Zexion considered this for a second. "…Let's wait and see. Maybe this isn't as big of a problem as it seems. Or maybe it's much, much bigger than it seems. We don't know yet. So for now, we need to wait and see what happens."

"What do we do until then?"

"We continue on as normal. We'll keep an eye on this person, see what he does. If we need to eliminate him, we will. But I think that if we play our cards right, we can use him."

Xion looked down at her lap again. "I want to do _something…"_

Zexion sighed. "I know. Tell you what. I'm going to be investigating a bit more. If you follow my instructions exactly, you can come with me."

Xion looked up again. "Really?"

"As long as you don't interfere in my investigations too much."

Xion nodded. "I won't, I promise!"

Zexion smiled just a little. "I always did like you, Xion. Whatever you have that lets you retain some modicum of joy, it's contagious."

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter five!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Man, this chapter gave me trouble. The thing is that I never have trouble with beginnings, and I almost always know how I want the ending to go. It's that part in the middle that gives me trouble. And the longer that middle part is, the harder it gets to write. But not to worry! This is exactly why I like NaNoWriMo—it keeps me going through that middle part. So I promise you that you'll get to see the end of this story!**

 **With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter V**

 **Future Choices to Make**

0=0=0=0=0=0

Namine still loved every second of her drawing. Not that she knew exactly why all of these people wanted her to draw. She had asked Roxas and Xion, but they had no clue, either. It didn't really matter to her, of course, because the things they were making her draw were so much more interesting than drawing the regular old castle.

But she was curious about something. And she had heard that Vexen was a scientist. That meant he knew everything, or at least, that's how she thought it worked. Who better to ask questions than someone who knew everything?

So, after completing her latest drawing and hanging it up on the wall, she went over to Vexen, who was sitting at the table writing something, and tugged his sleeve. "Sir?"

Vexen gave her an annoyed look. "What do you want?"

"How come Xion hates my drawings?"

After a second, Vexen made a huge, creepy grin. "Does she really, now?"

Namine looked down at the floor. "When I show them to her, she acts really weird. She always looks really…scared. And she always says that her head hurts and she needs to go lie down. She screamed one time…"

"What drawing made her scream?"

"The one of me holding hands with that boy you always want me to draw…"

Vexen seemed to chuckle to himself. "It isn't your drawings she hates. It is you she hates."

Namine shook her head. "No. She's my friend."

Vexen's grin vanished, to be replaced with a scowl. "And what do you think friends do?"

Namine thought for a long time. "…I don't know."

"Well, I'll tell you right now what friends _don't_ do." Vexen leaned forward. "Friends don't scream at their friend's drawings, and friends don't lie in bed all day doing nothing."

Namine sighed and looked down again. "What should I do, then?"

"Pay that thing and her companion no mind. You don't need them. You have your drawings."

Namine mumbled something.

"What was that? Speak up, now."

"…My drawings don't talk to me…"

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Get out of my face, you're disgusting."

Namine stepped back a few paces. "I'm sorry, I'm being ungrateful, I—"

"I said _get out of my face."_

Namine ran back to the room, shut the door and ran into the little bunk tent. She insisted that she didn't need her own blanket simply because she liked this place so much. It was warm and dark and soft and quiet. Basically, everything the rest of the castle was not.

She took a second to make sure no one was here, then she curled up with the pillow and tried not to cry about the fact that, according to Vexen, she had no friends.

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _You know, you remind me a lot of him."_

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_

" _Mostly…it means that I know all of your moves."_

" _What are you talking about? Who do I remind you of?"_

" _Oh, just a friend of mine."_

" _Why don't you start making some sense?!"_

" _Maybe once you beat me, I'll make more sense to you. Not that that's going to happen for a while, of course…don't hold back, now! I want to see how similar you really are!"_

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xion found that the deeper she went into the castle basement, the safer she felt, and the easier it felt to keep her memories. So far, she hadn't actually forgotten anything important, but she constantly felt like she was in a dream, and her mind's internal 'recorder' was low on battery and glitching out. She would write reports, and then just a few minutes later find them on the desk and not remember who wrote them until she saw the signature. She would suddenly remember her dishwashing duties, rush off to do them and then find that she already did them and didn't remember doing it. She had forgotten Namine's name at least twice, though this didn't seemed to disturb the blond girl.

In essence, Xion was losing her mind here, and she would take any chance to escape that feeling in a heartbeat.

She heard the sound of finger-snapping next to her ear and turned. It was Zexion. "Eyes up, Xion. I need you alert right now."

Xion sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. If you're not feeling well, you can always go back. And I mean that."

Xion shut her eyes. "No, no, not that, that just makes it worse, please…"

Zexion held her on the shoulder. "Would you mind telling me what's wrong?"

"Why do you care? Seriously, I want to know."

"Because you're as much a part of this team as me or anyone else. And I need to make sure that all the members of that team are in top shape. That means taking care of people."

Xion shook her head. "I don't even know what's wrong with me. From the moment I entered this castle, I've felt like all my memories of everything that makes me happy are being slowly sapped away. And since I don't remember what makes me happy, it gets harder and harder to be happy. But if I'm not happy, then I mess things up. So I have to try and be happy, and it doesn't work, and…"

Xion lost her train of thought, and just put her head in her hands. Zexion squeezed. "Depression, then."

"Depression?"

"It means that you're so unhappy that your brain goes haywire trying to fix it. I've suspected it for a while, but up until now, it was Axel's responsibility."

Xion looked down. "Roxas hates Axel now…"

"If they're truly friends, they'll make up. Until then, as the head of the Underground, it is my responsibility to take care of you."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

Zexion stared at the empty hallway in front of them. "Because depression is a thing that a lot of Somebodies go through, and I was a Somebody once."

Xion scratched the back of her neck. "But I'm not a Somebody…and I don't remember when I was one, or even if I was one…"

Zexion was silent for a minute, as if deep in thought. "…In this place, you're going to learn something that will change everything you know. And when you learn it, you're going to have to make a choice. Both of the options will have a lot of consequences, some of them good, and some of them not so much. When that time comes, I want you to think very hard about your decision, because whatever you decide will affect the future in an incredibly drastic way. Promise me you'll try to make the right choice, whatever that choice may be."

Xion bit her lip. "…And what will the right choice be?"

"To know that, you'll need to know what the question and all the other choices are. And I can't tell you that, not yet. Right now, I just need you to promise."

After a second, Xion nodded. "I promise."

Zexion started to walk forward, but Xion grabbed his hand. "Wait," she said, with a slightly scared expression on her face. "I don't want to forget this conversation…how do I remember this?"

Zexion gave her hand a small squeeze. "By trusting in yourself to remember it. Now come on. Let's go find out little intruder."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Having only three people in the mission pool meant more meetings with Xemnas for Saix. And more meetings with Xemnas meant more trying to save the Keybearers while trying not to get Dusked (or worse) in the process. Saix didn't really have an idea of 'fun', but if he did, this probably wouldn't be it.

He sighed. "Superior, there has been little progress at Castle Oblivion from what I've heard. Sora blew straight through the first floor without being affected by Marluxia's 'mind control' at all."

Xemnas faked a smile, as he usually did when talking of these things. "Patience, Number VII. You must have patience. It took a long time for Sora to arrive at the castle in the first place, much longer than we had originally anticipated. And yet it still happened. So waiting a little longer won't be any trouble, now will it?"

"The longer this goes on, the closer Roxas and Xion get to the Replica Program."

"Did I not already inform you that that was the whole point?"

Saix clasped his hands together. "You think that it's an easy disposal method. In my opinion, it can only lead to ruin."

"How so?"

"When a person loses their sense of identity, they become desperate. And desperate people are one of the most dangerous things that can happen to any group, including this Organization."

Xemnas seemed to consider this, though it was obviously an act. "…Fair point. But desperate people do desperate things. And desperate things tend to be unintelligent things. Things that get them killed."

"They stop fearing death. Instead, they try to bring everyone else down with them."

"Well, that's why we contained them in a finite area filled with potential traitors and our most powerful members, now isn't it?"

Saix nodded, though he didn't mean it. No progress on the issue was going to be made during this meeting. Just like every other meeting before it. Once Xemnas decided on a plan, he stuck to it and found a way to counter every motion against it. He always claimed to have a backup plan if it failed, and knowing him, he probably did. But when the plan was to the detriment of Roxas and Xion— _no, to the detriment of Organization XIII,_ Saix told himself—things tended to get a little messy.

"Once again, I urge you to trust me. I trust you, after all. I trust that your seeming concern and attachment to Roxas and the Replica is purely concern of potentially losing a useful asset, for example."

Saix took a deep breath. "Yes, Superior. That is correct."

Xemnas pretended to smile again. Joy was one emotion he never was quite able to imitate well. "In that case, your concern is well warranted. But it may pass now. We already have the first piece we need to make a new replica.

Saix raised his eyebrow. "Sora has no more memories to give for such a project."

"But what of that other presence that Number VI sensed, hmm? Surely, he will have plenty of memories that will be of use to us. And when in doubt, we can always recycle…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The mysteries deepen, unless you've played the games, in which case you know exactly what's going on and are probably anticipating a lot of things as I speak. As you should, because I am a writer, which makes me inherently sadistic toward fictional characters. *evil laugh***

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter six!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Milestone: this story now contains ten thousand whole, legit words of awesomeness! *CHAMPANGE* I hope you've been enjoying every single one of them. For now, enjoy this chapter, where we will soon learn more of Marluxia's palns…**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter VI**

 **The Fallacy Of Memory**

0=0=0=0=0=0

If there was one thing Roxas hated more than anything else about this place (not counting the fact that it confined Xion to bed all day ninety percent of the time), it was sitting on his hands all day, waiting for something to happen. This had never been his style, and now that he was forced to do it, it was grating on his very core…if Nobodies could be said to have such things.

And in Roxas' opinion, based on the completely anecdotal evidence of his own love for Xion, they most certainly could.

He heard Namine's voice from her chair. "Roxas…?"

Roxas blinked, then turned. "Yeah?"

Namine didn't even look up from her latest drawing. "Are you my friend?"

More blinking from Roxas. "Well…yeah. But friends take time. We're not as close as, say, I am to Xion. But that doesn't mean we aren't friends."

"You really like her, don't you?"

Roxas laid down in the bed, staring up at the top bunk. "I love her."

"Love?" Namine looked up. "What's love?"

Roxas sighed, finally understanding how… _Number VIII_ felt. ( _If Saix can do it, so can I._ ) "Love is…love is when you like someone so much that they become the core of what you are. They take you over and just…become the only thing you think about. Ever."

Namine thought about it. "…That sounds scary."

Roxas shook his head. "Not at all. It's the best thing in the whole universe. It's like being enveloped by a really warm light from inside you."

Namine smiled. "Oh. That actually sounds really beautiful. How can I get it?"

"You don't 'get' love. It comes to you, after you've been with someone for a long, long time."

"Oh. Well…I'm glad you and Xion have love."

Roxas smiled. "So am I."

Namine looked back at her drawing. "Hey, um, why does Xion hate my pictures?"

Roxas took a deep breath, then shook his head. "She doesn't. She thinks you're really good. But looking at them makes her feel weird."

"Why?"

Roxas closed his eyes. "Trust me, if I knew that, I'd be trying to help her with it. She won't get out of bed, she doesn't talk nearly as much as she used to, she has nightmares every time she falls asleep…"

"Are you worried about her?"

Roxas snorted. "Yes. I thought that was pretty clear."

Namine was silent for a moment. "…Where is she right now?"

"Investigating something with Zexion."

"When she gets back…we should cheer her up together."

Roxas opened his eyes again and looked at Namine. "How do we do that?"

"What does she like?"

"Ice cream and friends."

Namine snapped her fingers like she had just gotten an idea. "Let's have ice cream with her!"

Roxas sighed. "There's some sea-salt in the freezer…but Xion says it isn't the same without Axel, and…"

"Then get Axel."

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Still mad at him."

"Why?"

Roxas rubbed his face and sat up. "Because he's lying, and friends don't lie."

Namine rubbed her feet together. "But Xion said friends don't stay mad at each other."

Roxas slammed his hand down on the bed. "He's not my friend anymore, okay?!"

That had come out much harsher than Roxas had intended. Did he intend to say that? It had just…come out in a burst of rage. In any case, he had had an effect. Namine slid down into her chair, clutching her sketchbook. She looked about ready to burst into tears.

Roxas took a long, deep breath, and found himself remembering a small incident from a long time ago.

0=0=0=0=0=0

 _Why is water coming out of her eyes? Why is she making those weird wailing sounds? Is she sick? Is she hurt? What's going on?_

 _I look up, but see that Axel has already run over to Xion and pulled her close. I sigh and come a little closer. I have to figure out what's wrong with her. That's what friends do, right?_

 _Axel is holding her and wiping the water off her face. "Hey…are you feeling sad?"_

 _Xion just nods a bit._

" _Want to tell me why you're sad?"_

 _Xion makes another wailing sound, but doesn't say any actual words._

" _I'm going sit here and hold you until you're ready, okay?"_

 _More nodding. Xion burrows herself into Axel's chest. He pats her head, then looks up at my confused expression. With one hand, he gets a piece of paper, writes something on it a little messily, then pushes it to me. I pick up the paper and read it._

She's crying, _it says._ People cry when they're sad sometimes. I need you to be quiet for her. OK?

 _I look up and give a thumbs up, and Axel goes back to holding Xion. He's amazing. I wouldn't have any idea what to do on my own. I'm glad he's our friend._

0=0=0=0=0=0

Roxas hesitated, then walked over to Namine and sat down next to her. "…He can come if it means Xion can be happy again."

Namine wiped her eyes and looked up again. "Really?"

"Yeah. Really. But don't expect miracles, okay? I don't know if I'm ready to forgive him yet."

Namine nodded. "That's fine. I just want to help Xion." She got up. "I'll go get him!"

Roxas raised his eyebrow. "Right now?"

"Yeah, so that he's here when she gets here! She'll be so happy!"

Before Roxas could protest further, Namine ran off. Roxas sighed and sat down on the bed and held his chest. He wasn't sure how this would go down, or what was going on with Xion, or anything about his life right now…but sometimes, deep down, in his chest, he got a warm feeling that told him that everything was going to be okay.

After all, he had friends, and he had hope.

0=0=0=0=0=0

Meetings in the upper levels were usually boring. Marluxia would check up on Sora's progress. Axel would tell him— _again_ —that Namine hadn't gotten through to him yet. He'd talk about how it takes time to change memories and how they just needed to be patient. The meeting would disperse. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but at least they weren't discussing things like the nature of a certain girl's existence or how disposable a certain boy really was.

But of course, such things never lasted, especially with Marluxia at the helm. Axel knew that all too well.

Marluxia walked to the head of Namine's old table again, tapping his fingers together. He neglected to sit down, as usual—the taller he made his relative height, the more authority he seemed to impose. "Axel, have you checked up on Namine lately?"

Axel looked away for just a second. He had found himself using that trick more and more often lately. "Not since I left her with the kids."

Marluxia shook his head, though he was smiling. His 'loving father' act always creeped Axel out. "Aren't you concerned for them one bit after all this time?"

Axel narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Only that your famous father-like instincts seem to be lagging lately. I'm sure they miss you by now."

Axel forced himself to look Marluxia in the eye. "What do you care? You never cared until now."

Xigbar kicked his legs up on the table. "He has a point, Roseboy. You've seemed awfully interested in the kiddies lately. Something you're not telling us?"

If Marluxia suspected an interrogation, he didn't betray such thoughts on his face. "Well, there are several theories on what might happen should Roxas and Sora meet, never mind Xion, and I am merely concerned for the safety of our core assets."

Xigbar snorted. "As if. Come on, now. You know just as well as the rest of us that Xemnas wants us to test those theories. So why are you holding it off, hmm? Why the cold feet? Did you start having ice cream with them without telling us?"

"I'd tell you not to be so ridiculous, but I know that with you it would be useless." Marluxia made a sigh, clearly staged. "It's simply that, unlike Lord Xemnas, I still see a use in the children."

"And what use would that be?"

Marluxia scratched his chin for a second. "I think we can insert them into his memories. It might even work better than Namine."

Larxene leaned forward. "Oh, I like this plan. It sounds so much more elegant than simply throwing the kids at him."

Axel shook his head. "When stuff goes down, he's going to turn against us, and it isn't going to be pretty."

Marluxia gave Axel the usual charming smile. "But Axel, if we play cards right, he'll be in our clutches and won't even miss them."

Axel tried not to clench his fists together, but he couldn't help it. Xigbar gave him a look. The intended effect was probably _stay cool, I've got this,_ but the real effect was _if you keep playing along, they won't go._ Actually, after a moment's thought, he decided that that first message had been a misjudgment of Xigbar's character in the first place.

Xigbar looked back at Marluxia and crossed his arms. "Who says we have to get rid of Tiger and Poppet anyway? If we keep leading Sora along, he never has to actually meet them. And I know Xemnas wants to get rid of them, but there's no reason he might not change his mind when Kingdom Hearts gets completed three times fast. Heck, maybe even four times fast. Who knows, he might even give you a promotion…"

Marluxia made that small little laugh again. "I don't aspire to such heights, at least not actively. I simply do my job as efficiently and effectively as I can. But you do make a fair point."

Larxene shook her head. "I think those two are useless down in that basement."

"No, they're good bait down in that basement. And we are going to keep them in that basement until such time as their usefulness there has diminished to such a point that there is no further benefit to be gained from keeping them there."

Xigbar laughed. "Did you _have_ to say 'they stay in the basement for now' in the most long-winded way possible?"

Marluxia smiled back. "Come now. That had nothing on some of Lord Xemnas' speeches."

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _I'm going to find Riku, and we'll go home to Kairi and…wait…"_

" _Sora…?"_

"… _There were other people on the Islands! A girl…no, two girls, and a boy, too! We were always playing together and eating ice cream…but one day, they were just gone…wait…"_

" _Sora, what's going on?"_

"… _They weren't JUST_ _gone…someone took them. Someone took them, I saw it…someone took them away from me…"_

" _Who took them?"_

"… _These people! These people took them away!"_

" _What?"_

" _These people took them…and they are going to PAY…"_

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter seven!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ah, another troublesome chapter of trouble. Fun fact: this chapter was written almost entirely in five-minute bursts followed by much longer bursts of internet. :P Luckily, posting my NaNo project as I write it has an advantage: invitation to widespread mockery if I don't finish it on time. So you can trust that I will be finishing it. :)**

 **And now, on to chapter seven, where the castle brings Xion to a boiling point…**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter VII**

 **Far-Off Dreams**

0=0=0=0=0=0

The hallway stretched on and on in front of Xion. It felt like it would never end. That was, of course, the general feeling of this whole castle. But walking for what felt like miles without finding a single noteworthy thing, that feeling was amplified by an order of magnitude.

She moaned just a little. "How much far—"

Zexion stopped in his tracks. "Quiet."

Xion covered her mouth and looked around. She couldn't see anyone, but Zexion was sniffing the air. Finally, he whispered, "He's almost here. Hide."

Xion ran with Zexion to a nearby pillar. She was about to summon her Keyblade, but Zexion held her hand to stop her. She sighed and watched the door. To her, it didn't seem like anything was going to come out of it…

…Until a white-haired boy in a yellow jumpsuit pushed the doors open and started walking down the hallway. Suddenly, Xion's head started hurting. She felt like she _knew_ this person, like he was her best friend. But she knew she had never seen him before…

She felt herself get pulled back and heard Zexion whisper in her ear. "Stay here."

"But I wasn't—" That's when she realized she had taken a few steps toward the guy without realizing it. "Sorry…"

"It's fine, just be quiet and don't move."

Xion held back another sigh, which probably would have made more noise. She watched as the boy kept walking through the otherwise empty corridor. He walked as though he cared about nothing in his line of sight…like he was on a mission. That was probably a bad sign, at least in Xion's opinion.

She looked up. "Where do you think he's going?" she whispered.

Zexion considered. "…I'm not sure. But wherever it is, he seems determined to get there. Maybe this is worse than we thought."

"Maybe we should—"

The boy stopped in his tracks, and Xion held her breath as he looked around. "Come on," he said in a voice that sounded mildly intimidating, yet familiar. "I know there's someone else here. Don't be a coward."

Xion started to walk forward again, but she felt Zexion's hand on her shoulder. "Don't," he said. "Don't take the bait."

"We can take him together!"

"Not yet. We don't know what he's capable of. Quiet."

The boy looked around a little longer, then sighed and kept walking. Xion looked up at Zexion again. "Why are we just letting him go?"

"We're not."

Zexion snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the boy stopped. He pushed at empty air like it was just as solid as any brick wall. Xion blinked. "I thought you only made illusions…"

Zexion smiled a bit. "Well, illusions can be tactile, now can't they? Now we can strike."

Xion summoned her Keyblade, and the duo slowly approached the boy. He turned to face them, but he seemed to be boxed in. Zexion grinned. "That was much easier than I anticipated…Riku."

Xion felt a sudden pain in her forehead, and grabbed it, shutting her eyes tight as she did so. The name was just as familiar as everything else about this kid. What was going on?

The boy, apparently Riku, grit his teeth. "What do you want?"

"Well, I'm the leader down here in the basement, and it's my job to make sure no, ahem, unwanted intruders come in here. After all, that would mess with our meetings. We only have five chairs…"

Riku seemed to be holding something back, some kind of unstoppable rage. He also gave off a weird aura that even Xion could sense…an evil aura. A bit like the Superior, just like Zexion had told her. Xion wondered exactly who—or _what—_ this person was. But her head still hurt, and thinking about that sort of thing was not going to work too well right now. But Riku…

Suddenly, a strange image appeared in front of her eyes, as clear as crystal. An island, playing with people, places and faces. There was Riku, and some redheaded girl, and…Namine? Roxas? _Herself?_

What?

0=0=0=0=0=0

 _Roxas is screaming and trying to pull away from the man in the coat. "Sora! Sora! Help us!"_

 _The man speaks in a deep, dark, booming voice. "Quiet, fool. That silly boy can't stop me from taking you away. He won't even remember you."_

 _I run towards the man, but he throws his hand out, and I go flying into a tree. The man has Namine and Xion, too. They're crying. I have to save them, I have to, I have to…_

 _But then they're gone. My best friends…they're all gone, they're all gone…_

 _Gone…_

 _I start crying._

 _I want my friends…_

0=0=0=0=0=0

That's when Xion lost consciousness entirely.

0=0=0=0=0=0

Axel caught Namine at the door to the basement. Running up all those stairs was not the fastest task in the worlds. Axel had no idea why she was running up anyway. Well, she had been running, apparently. Now, she had just collapsed in an exhausted heap at the door.

Axel sighed and crouched down next to her. "You okay?"

Namine nodded. "Uh-huh…I was coming to…to get you…"

"Why do you need me?"

"Xion's feeling really sad and…and we're gonna cheer…cheer her up with ice cream. And we need you…"

Axel sighed. No one told him about these things anymore. No one told him anything anymore. "Why don't we head downstairs now, huh? I've been wanting to check on you kids."

Namine pulled herself up. "Okay. I hope Xion will be okay…"

"Where is she?"

"She's doing something with Zexion, but she'll be back soon, I think."

Another thing Axel hadn't been told about. Of course. He sighed _again_ —his habit was really becoming noticeable now—and took Namine by the hand, walking her down the stairs. He was worried about Xion, and he dreaded trying to talk to Roxas again. This Castle Oblivion thing had overstayed its welcome, that was for sure. He just wanted to go home and take Roxas and Xion to the clocktower again and laugh and joke like they used to. Heck, he would have even took the awkward questions of old over…well…this.

When he reached the basement common room, Vexen, Lexaeus and Roxas were pacing around the room, yelling things at each other. Well, Vexen and Roxas were yelling, anyway, Lexaeus was sitting in his chair, shaking his head, apparently utterly dismayed by all of this commotion. Axel couldn't blame him, really.

He raised his hand. "Hey, hey, everyone calm down! What's going on?"

Roxas shoved Vexen out of the way and ran over to Axel, not scowling for once. Unfortunately, he looked terrified instead. "Xion passed out in the middle of her mission with Zexion!"

Axel gasped a bit, but quickly covered it up and tried to appear calm. "Where is she?"

"Zexion took her back immediately. She's in our room right now."

Axel nodded and ran off to Xion's room, throwing the door open. Xion was laying on the bottom bunk with her eyes closed. There were tears streaking down her face. Axel sat down next to the bed and turned to Zexion. "Do you know what happened?"

Zexion wiped some tears off of Xion's face. "Riku is here. I don't know why or what he wants. He seemed as though he were on some kind of mission, but I don't know what that mission is. In any case, Xion fell unconscious, apparently from his mere presence."

"The guy Sora is looking for? How did he get here?"

"Who knows? Besides Marluxia. He probably planned all this for us. Didn't he?"

Axel rubbed his eyes. "If he did, he sure didn't tell me about it."

Zexion closed his eyes. "That's just our luck, isn't it…"

Axel felt a shove, and then found himself on the floor all of a sudden. When he looked up, he saw Roxas sitting next to the bed and shaking Xion. His voice was unsettling—it betrayed barely concealed terror. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, please wake up, please wake up, please, please, please wake up…"

Axel got up and held his shoulder."Hey, Rox, it's oka—"

Roxas shoved Axel again, harder this time. Before he knew what was happening, his supposed best friend was on top of him, ready to beat his face in. Zexion grabbed the punching arm and pulled Roxas up—he was surprisingly strong. "Roxas. Stop it. Now."

Roxas tried to get away from Zexion. "Let go of me!"

"This is not Axel's fault."

Roxas turned to Axel, who was still on the floor, and snarled at him. "It might as well be!"

"Give me one good reason to blame Xion's condition on Axel."

Roxas kept trying to get away. "Ever since Axel lied to her, she's been acting all weird! He probably did it on purpose!"

Axel got up. "Whoa, hey—"

Zexion held his hand up, stopping Axel, then held Roxas' head, forcing him to look. "She's been acting like this for four months, Roxas. She just didn't act like this in front of you until now, when she didn't have the choice."

Roxas looked about ready to punch Zexion, too. "So you're going to lie to me, too?!"

"Roxas, did you even bother to ask her how her missions have been going? Why she always seems to be staring down at her lap like she's in a trance? What she does at all, besides eat ice cream and talk to you? Because if you had, you probably would have learned some interesting things."

Roxas just stood, staring at Zexion. All the color drained from his face, and his expression contorted into horror He almost seemed to be chocking on his own words.

"Being in a romantic relationship is just like any other relationship. You have to look out for the other person. And your anger has blinded you, causing you to fail at that job. If you truly care about Xion, you'll put your grudge aside and look after her like you're supposed to."

Zexion finally let go of Roxas, who just walked backwards a few steps before plopping down in one of the chairs by the desk. Axel got up and watched as Roxas turned to the desk, folded his arms on it and plopped his head into them.

After a second, he turned his head in Axel's general direction. "I haven't forgiven you yet…but I'm still sorry for trying to beat you up."

Axel nodded. "I accept your apology."

"Why did you lie to her?"

Axel took a long, deep breath. "Because I'm trying to protect her."

"Protect her from what?"

Axel shook his head. "I can't tell you yet. It needs to stay secret as long as it possibly can."

Roxas thought about this. "…You still shouldn't have lied to her. You should have told us something was up, but you couldn't tell us what it was. At least we'd still be able to trust you…"

Axel sighed. "I know. And I'm sorry."

"Truthfully?"

"Yes."

Roxas was silent for a long moment that seemed like forever. Finally, he put his head back in his arms. "Okay."

Axel stood for a second, then sat down next to the bed again, holding Xion's cheek. "We're going to be friends again when you wake up," he whispered. "Then we can have ice cream like we used to…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _Sora…why are you crying?"_

" _I remembered when they were taken away from me."_

" _Don't worry. You'll find them again."_

" _I want them now…I want Roxas and Xion and Namine and Riku and…"_

" _And?"_

" _This pretty girl with red hair, I remember…wait…"_

" _What?"_

" _I don't want to lose memories of my friends again…but I don't have a choice but to keep going. Come on. Let's go save them."_

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **And some drama for you, and some drama for you, and some drama for you, oh, don't forget a pinch of lovely, wonderful angsty angst of angstiness… :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter eight!**


	8. Chapter 8

**You know, once I finally got going with it, this chapter flew right out of my fingers. Maybe I'm picking up steam again. I seem to do that once I start the approach toward 15,000 words. :) Enough with my NaNo hopes. Enjoy chapter seven…**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter VIII**

 **Homesick**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 _I'm scared, Sora._

" _Huh? Why?"_

 _Everything's so crazy and weird lately, and I just want it to stop…I'm so scared…_

" _Don't worry, Xion. I'll protect you."_

 _Really?_

" _Yeah, I promise."_

 _Thank you, Sora._

0=0=0=0=0=0

Every second that passed by with Xion still asleep was another second that Roxas had to pace, worry and wait. He knew this was ridiculous, that he shouldn't be so worried…but he was worried. He had been told to keep himself busy, but it never felt right. It felt like neglecting Xion.

He was pacing around the room now, thing about what Zexion had said the previous night. _If you truly care about Xion, you'll put you're grudge aside and look after her like you're supposed to._ Those words bounced around in his mind over and over, playing like a broken record. All of a sudden, Roxas couldn't help but blame all of this on himself. If Axel had been there, would she have gotten like this? Would this have happened?

Roxas had let himself hate Axel so much that it ended up hurting Xion. Now he was stupid and selfish. He supposed that he deserved it, in the end.

He heard a knock at the door. He sighed. "If you aren't Vexen, come in."

The door made an odd little _pop_ as it opened. It always did that, but this time it startled Roxas just enough to make him turn his head and see that it was Axel. He sighed. "Hey."

Axel nodded. "Hey, Roxas. I was just checking on Xion. You know."

Roxas nodded and sat down next to the bed. "She's still asleep. Honestly, at this point, I'm just glad she's still breathing…"

Axel patted Roxas on the shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"Are you going to wake her up?"

"Would if I knew how."

Roxas put his hand on Xion's cheek, making sure her skin was still warm. "Yeah. So would I."

There was silence for a bit. Then, he felt Axel bump his shoulder and turned. The man was holding an ice cream stick out towards him. "I wanted to eat ice cream with you again," he whispered. "Even if Xion can't do it with us."

After a moment's thought, Roxas took the ice cream and bit into it. Somehow, with Axel and Xion here, even with Xion asleep, the ice cream tasted like it was supposed to. It tasted like friendship and sunsets and love.

It tasted like home.

He heard Axel's voice. "Rox…are you crying?"

Roxas felt his face and noticed the tears. He wiped them away. "I've been crying a lot lately."

"About Xion?"

Roxas shook his head. "About everything, really. I…really, really hate this place."

Axel pulled him close. "It'll work out in the end."

Roxas closed his eyes, not bothering to wipe the tears anymore. "I just want to go home…"

"So do I. So do I."

Roxas heard Xion's voice. "Home…"

His eyes flew open. Xion was starting to stir, moving just slightly in the bed and shifting the blanket. Roxas resisted the urge to start shaking her wildly, choosing to hold her hand instead. "Hey, can you hear me? Xion?"

Xion squeezed his hand. "Roxas…are we home yet?"

Roxas caught his breath for a few seconds. "We're…we're not. But that's okay. We're gonna get home, okay? And then we can have ice cream again."

Xion smiled. "Yeah…with Namine and Sora and Riku…"

Roxas blinked. "Um…with Axel, remember? Namine can come too, if she wants."

"Axel…" Xion's smile disappeared. "I remembered something about Axel…"

"It's okay now. I forgave him. We're friends again."

Xion shook her head. "It's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

"…Axel was one of the bad people…"

Roxas blinked again. "Huh?"

"One of the bad people who took us away from Sora…"

Roxas turned to Axel, but he looked just as dumbfounded. He took Xion's hand, shaking his head. "Xi, it's okay, I'm not going to take you away from anyone, you probably just had a bad dream…"

Xion opened her eyes slightly. They were wet with tears, just like Roxas'. "I don't get it…why did you take us away?"

"I didn't take anyone away."

Xion sat up, pulling away from Axel. "You're my friend, but I want to go back to my old friends now. Please…"

Roxas held Xion's arm. "Xion, Sora and Riku were never your friends. Don't you remember?"

Xion pulled Roxas into a hug. "No, don't _you_ remember? We used to play on Destiny Islands all the time, but then some bad people took us away and…"

Roxas nodded, even though he couldn't understand a word Xion was saying. "And what?"

"…And they erased our memory…made us forget Sora and Riku and even Namine, made us work for them…" Xion stood up and held Roxas' hand. "We have to get out of here. We have to go back to Sora, now."

Roxas started hyperventilating. He didn't do this much, mostly because he wasn't this terrified much. "Xion, you're not making any sense…"

"I know you can't remember, but I'll help you remember! We're going to get Sora and Riku, then we're going to go home and play and eat ice cream together again! Just like we used to! It's going to be great, really great!"

Roxas looked between Xion and Axel, feeling both confused and scared. Axel was stepping towards the two, holding his hand out. "Xion, I can't let you—"

Xion summoned her Keyblade and raised it at Axel's chest.

" _Well, hello there, Xion."_

What was that? Axel hadn't said that. He looked too scared to move. Xion was narrowing her eyes at him. "We're going to go home. And you can't stop us. Even if you are our friend."

" _No, wait!"_

That was what Roxas felt like saying, but he could only hear it in his mind, as loud as any real words. Feelings were coming to him, shock and betrayal, feelings he didn't want. He could hear the sound of blades clashing in his head.

Axel stood back and took a few deep breaths. "Xion. Stop…whatever this is…stop it right now. Don't do this. I'm only going to give you one warning."

 _Why are you fighting? Stop fighting. Stop fighting, stop fighting, stop it, stop it, stop it…_

"We're going home, Axel."

"Xion, put your Keyblade away, get back in bed and go back to sleep."

"You're hiding something from us. This has to be it. No more, Axel. No more lying."

"Xion—"

Roxas felt a word come to his throat, then fall right out of it without his permission. _"STOP!"_

Axel and Xion both looked at Roxas in shock, and he took the opportunity to throw himself between them, summoning his own Keyblade just in case. But in case of what? They wouldn't really _fight_ each other…would they?

Xion sent her Keyblade off and stepped back. "Roxas…you have to remember…"

Roxas spun his Keyblade around in a defensive move, again, just in case. "I don't care what I do and don't remember right now. All I care about is that you stop fighting. Please."

Axel held his hand out. "Xion, you've got to—"

Roxas whipped around. "We're not going to talk about that right now, okay?! Don't fight. Don't fight. If you fight, something horrible will happen and we won't be friends anymore, please, please, please don't fight…"

Xion covered her mouth and sat down on the bed. She was starting to cry again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Roxas sat down, still not daring to send his own Keyblade off. "It's okay. But you need to calm down and listen to us…okay?"

Xion just nodded. "I understand…but please listen to me too, okay? I'm not crazy, I don't want to be crazy…"

"We'll listen to you, I promise. You're going to stay here until we figure out what's going on. I'm going to stay here, too." Roxas noticed that Xion's chest wasn't moving up and down like it was supposed to. "Breathe."

Xion shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Too hard…"

Roxas nodded, trying to remember one of Axel's tricks for getting Xion to calm down. "Just follow my lead, okay?"

Xion nodded, and both of them took some deep breaths together. With each breath, Xion grew a little less tense, though her nervousness didn't fade completely. When he was done, Roxas held her on the shoulder. "Doesn't that feel better?"

Xion closed her eyes. "Yeah…it really does."

Roxas turned to Axel. "Go get someone who can help us."

Axel nodded and ran out of the room. Xion watched him go. "Why did he take us away?" she muttered.

Roxas held her tight. "We're going to find out soon, okay? Just stay calm. I'm here, I'm right here…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **So you thought I couldn't squeeze more drama into the first quarter or so…silly fanfic reader, I specialize in squeezing as much drama into everything as I possibly can! Luckily, I do it better on the page than in real life. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter nine!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Fifteen thousand words! *CONFETTI* From my previous NaNo experience, I've found that everything tends to get easier at 15k. Maybe because it signifies the part where the explaining and setup and other beginning nonsense stops and the real story begins. Or maybe it's just that number where I realize, 'hey, I can probably pull this off!' Who knows. Works for me either way. :)**

 **And now, chapter nine, with more on Marluxia's plan…**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter IX**

 **Agenda**

0=0=0=0=0=0

Axel practically came flying out of the dark corridor. "Marluxia, you've got some explaining to do!"

Marluxia turned, chuckling as he usually did. "Explaining? Explaining of what?"

Axel got right in Marluxia's face. "Xion has memories that we're supposed to be putting in Sora! She thinks that we took her away from Destiny Islands and erased her memories."

Marluxia kept up his usual creepy smile. "Has she escaped?"

"Roxas is keeping her in their room, but—"

Marluxia spread his hands out. "Then I don't see the problem. It's certainly nicer than her finding out about a certain project and doing things that don't really do her health good, now isn't it?"

Axel gritted his teeth. "This is arguably worse! At least learning the truth would be, well, _the truth,_ rather than basically going insane!"

"But Axel, don't you understand? Not learning about the Replica Program is her best chance for survival. And I just prevented her from learning about the Replica Program. See my point?"

Axel sighed and shook his head. "Look, are you trying to get me to obey your every command or something?"

Marluxia grinned. "You always were good at catching on quickly."

"Well, it's not going to work! You made her lose her grip on reality!"

Axel heard a woman's voice behind him. "Well, everyone is perfectly safe curled up in fetal position under their bed, reciting random poetry and playing with pretty hallucinations, aren't they?"

Axel spun around and scowled at Larxene. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Larxene laughed. "That is literally the most obvious statement you could have possibly made."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "You know, I used to respect you. Not like you, but respect you. But enjoying a little girl going crazy—"

Larxene raised her hand, as if to shush him. "Come on, Axel. She isn't a little girl. And just because you're her daddy or whatever doesn't change that. So why treat her like a little girl?"

Axel sputtered. "Th-that doesn't change anything!"

"Are you getting flustered, Axel? You're very cute like that. Very fatherly."

Before Axel could embarrass himself more, Xigbar came around from behind and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't beat on Flamesilocks too bad now. You've got a reason to keep Poppet functioning, too, don't you?"

Larxene crossed her arms. "And what reason would that be?"

"You want a promotion just as badly as Roseboy does. And the more Keybearers you've got, the faster it comes, hmm?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Absolutely nothing. I'm really good at that, aren't I?" Xigbar chuckled a bit. "So what's it going to be, Sparks? Sane Poppet or dead Poppet?"

It took every ounce of self-control left in Axel's brain to hold back a reaction of instinct to those last two words. The idea rattled him to his very core.

Larxene brushed her hair back. "Sanity and life aren't that connected. Just look at Vexen. He seems to be getting along just fine, despite all of our wishes."

Xigbar walked toward Larxene, grinning. "Oh, but there is a very fine line between being crazy enough to obsess over some stupid idea and being crazy enough to actually pull it off. And if you cross that line, well…" Xigbar made his voice high-pitched in a mockery of Xion. " _All work and no play makes Poppet a dull girl!_ Next thing you know, she's looking up recipes for fried Roseboy with a side of Sparks."

Larxene put on her usual expression of annoyance. "First of all, please never, ever speak in that voice again. You might break a mirror. Second, I doubt having a few memories of the random kid frolicking through the castle right now is going to make her resort to cannibalism."

Xigbar laughed, shaking his head. "You never know." He took Axel by the arm, pulling him along. "Be careful, you two. Poppet has the power to knock us all off. She just needs a little motivation, and you might have given it to her."

With that, Xigbar pulled Axel out of the room and closed the door behind them. Axel looked him in the eyes. "What are you trying to do?"

Xigbar snorted. "Play those two wannabe conspirators like a fiddle until the kiddies are back to normal for you, then kill them both. Then everyone can go home."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "What happens to Roxas and Xion when this plan is complete?"

Xigbar threw his hands in the air with theatrical flair, still grinning. "Would you trust me for just a second of your life?"

"Do you really want the answer to that question?"

"As long as you keep along with me, they are both going to be fine. They probably won't even remember this whole incident in the end. You get your happily ever after."

Axel sighed. "And you get? Because you probably get _something_ for doing the exact opposite of what Xemnas wants us to do, and I doubt it's more gun magazines."

Xigbar chuckled. "You don't get to know that yet, Flamesilocks."

"I thought we were partners."

Xigbar walked off with his hands in his pockets. "We are. But even partners have their own agendas. If you ask me, you're being maybe a _little_ too open with your own agenda…"

Axel leaned on the wall, shaking his head. "And you're being too quiet about yours," he muttered to himself. "I guess everyone makes mistakes."

0=0=0=0=0=0

"I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were crazy."

"…Am I crazy?"

"No."

"…I'm not crazy…"

This exact exchange between Xion and Roxas had been repeating itself for an hour now. Really, Xion found the repetition soothing. She wanted to be calm right now, she really did. She hated the feeling of fear and panic that seemed to churn in her stomach. Her headache right now was worse than any of the previous ones, like someone was squeezing her head and trying to crack the skull.

But realizing that the last half year of her life had been a complete lie…to say that she was shattered would be an understatement.

She closed her eyes. "Roxas?"

Roxas pulled her closer. "Yeah?"

"Do you still love me?"

Roxas nodded. "Of course I do. Remember our oath?"

Xion smiled. "That you'll love me no matter what…thank you for that…"

"You're welcome. We're going to get through this, okay? I promise."

"Promise…" Xion rubbed her palms together—she felt oddly cold. "Sora made me a promise, too…"

Roxas was silent for a long time. "…What promise?"

Xion considered for a second, then decided to go for it. "That he'd protect me…"

Roxas sighed. "…I'm really scared."

Xion pulled her legs up. "Of me?"

"No. _For_ you."

"Because I'm crazy?"

Roxas shook his head. "You're not crazy." He pulled Xion a little closer and kissed her on the cheek. "Your memories are just a little jumbled. We're going to fix it."

Xion felt a sense of panic and dread completely fill her body. She grabbed Roxas' arm tight. "No, I don't want to lose my memories again, I _can't_ lose my memories again, please, please, please, don't let them take my memories away again, please, please, please…"

"Shhh…" Roxas placed two fingers on her lips. "It's okay. Quiet now."

Xion took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…I just feel really anxious and weird…"

Roxas pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. Do you want to be quiet? It might make you feel better."

Xion nestled into Roxas' chest. She felt safer that way. "I'd feel better about being quiet if Namine was here…can you get Namine?"

Roxas thought about it. "I…actually don't know where she is right now…"

"We should go find her…"

"No way. Both of us are staying in this room until Axel comes back."

"But I want Namine…"

There was a small knock at the door. The voice behind it clearly belonged to Zexion. "Namine's right here. She wants to see you, too."

Xion would have jumped up off the bed, had Roxas not been holding her down with a gentle but firm grip. "Come in, come in, come in!"

The door opened, and Namine ran in and went straight to Xion, holding her hand. "I'm here, Xion, I'm here…it's going to be okay…"

Xion nodded. "I'll make sure of that." She looked up at Zexion. "This is it, right? This is what you told me about."

Zexion was silent for a long time. Then, he sat down in one of the chairs by the desk and looked away.

"No, Xion," he muttered. "It isn't."

0=0=0=0=0=0

 _Sora, why is everyone mad at me?_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _Namine is acting all tense around me, Riku won't talk to me, even Roxas is trying to avoid me…_

"… _That's really weird, actually. I could talk to them."_

 _Okay…thanks for being here for me…_

" _Of course, any time!"_

 _You're a great friend, Sora…_

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **In ten days, I've gotten fifteen thousand words. It took Invader more than that amount of time to get ten thousand, and that was the end of the story. I find this mildly amazing for some reason or another. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter ten!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I have to admit, I'm getting a bit behind. But not to worry, readers! I'm typing at the speed of light to get back on track and get this wonderful story out to you on time! As we are now ten chapters in—WOOT—I feel like comparing this to my other, non-NaNo projects in terms of speed. It took Invader, my best completed project, two weeks to get to this point. It took Unforgettable much longer, four whole** _ **months.**_ **I'd call this project around equal to Unforgettable in terms of detail, yet it took me the length of time it took to pump out Invader to bring it to you. I like this an unreasonable amount. :)**

 **That's enough celebrating past achievements (and not-so-sneakily bolstering my wordcount with a long author note :P). Time for chapter ten, where secrets come into the light…**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter X**

 **As A Family**

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xion could feel that she wasn't breathing again. She could tell by the way it felt like her lungs were trying to suck in air without her help. At this point, though, she didn't really care.

"It's…my memories aren't it…?"

Zexion shook his head. "No. They aren't. Not those memories, anyway."

"But…but my memories…"

Zexion kept staring at the wall in front of him. "Breathe."

"Why should I?"

"Because oxygen is required for life, and if you're not still alive at the end of this mission, I'll have to hand Roxas and Axel the sticks with which to beat me."

Xion drew in a breath. "…Thanks. I don't know why I keep doing that…"

"Because you're letting pressure get to you. You have to stay calm. Do you understand?"

Xion nodded. "Yeah. But if all these memories aren't what you told me about…"

Roxas shot his hand up. "Hey! Why does she keep talking about something you told her?"

Zexion gave Roxas a look. "Because I told her something. Something about the nature of Castle Oblivion. What she is to learn here."

"She's going to learn something? What?"

Zexion shook his head. "Like I told her, I can't say yet. She has to learn it on her own. But I can tell you that this isn't it."

Xion looked down. "But I know about my life before now…"

Zexion sat on the bed next to her and held her shoulder. "I'm going to be straight with you, Xion. Those memories are not real."

Xion shrank away a bit. "But they are…I know they're real…why won't you believe me? Why won't _anyone_ believe me?!"

Zexion gave her a tight squeeze. "Be calm."

"But my memories—"

"Were fabricated. By Namine."

The room fell silent. In the emptiness, Xion's own thoughts sounded almost audible. Not that she was thinking much besides the words that had just been spoken, bouncing around her head like a pinball. Lately, it felt like her whole life was a pinball machine, with her as the little silver ball, flying into bumpers and flashing lights, always trying to escape.

After what felt like years and years, Namine broke the silence, speaking in a tiny, terrified voice. "I…I hurt her?"

Zexion sighed. "Not on purpose, and not irreversibly."

"But…but how did I…"

Zexion held Namine's hand. "You have power over memories, Namine. Through your drawings, you can affect the very thing that makes people who they are. Memories decide our personalities, our goals, our friends. It's why Nobodies can act human without a heart. Someone who can change people's memories can change what they think. And if you can control what people think that easily…then you are the single most powerful person in the worlds."

Namine was shaking now. "I changed how Xion thinks…? But I didn't mean to…"

"The Organization is using your powers to manipulate that boy we're making you draw. We need him. _You_ need him."

Namine just shook her head. "I'm not going to hurt Xion anymore."

"That's why I need you to stop drawing."

"But you just said that I need—"

Zexion bent down and held her arms. "There's a plan. And as much as we need Sora for that plan, we need Xion, too."

Namine thought about this. "…Why can't I just fix her memories?"

The panicky feeling filled Xion again, and she grabbed her head. "Don't take away my memories, please, please, please…"

Zexion turned and gently pulled her off the bed, holding both of the girls. "First, Xion, you can't let fear control you. No matter what happens, I'm going to make sure you get out of here safe."

Xion scratched the back of her neck. "Why? What's the point?"

"The point is that I am the leader of the Underground, and it is my duty to make sure you come home in one piece."

"…Thank you. I didn't know you cared about me…"

"I care about everyone here. It's my job." Zexion turned to Namine. "Now listen closely. You are going to stop drawing. You've drawn enough that Marluxia won't notice that progress has stopped for a while. And if he does, Axel will buy us time. We're going to find some way to sort this mess out so that Xion is safe and everyone goes home. Okay?"

Both of the girls nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Now Roxas…"

Zexion blinked. It took Xion a second to realize that Roxas was no longer anywhere in sight.

0=0=0=0=0=0

When Axel entered the basement again, he noticed that Roxas was pacing up and down the room. Well, more like stomping. Forget looking like someone drowned his goldfish. He looked like _he_ was going to drown a goldfish. Maybe all the goldfish. Possibly their owners, too.

Axel sighed. He realized that it didn't really take much to get him looking like that. His girlfriend getting a little messed up in the head was definitely enough to do it.

He walked over to Roxas and cleared his throat. "You okay, Rox?"

Roxas stomped his foot. "Do I _look_ okay?! And don't call me that anymore, it's stupid."

Axel raised his hands in the air. "Okay, okay, I won't. But what's going on?"

Roxas looked away. "I didn't get told the real reason we're here until now, just like always, because I never get told anything!"

Axel caught his breath. He couldn't gasp right now. It wasn't allowed, not in his mind, not with Roxas ready to stick his Keyblade in someone. But if Roxas knew the truth, the real truth…Axel had no idea what might happen, but whatever it was, he knew that it would probably involve Roxas doing something stupid. And when Roxas did something stupid, he became the most powerful, most dangerous and most reckless member of the Organization. In other words, not good for anyone's health, especially not his own.

Axel slowly let the air out of his lungs, just quiet enough that Roxas wouldn't notice his tension, then walked over to the blond boy and bent down. "It's going to be okay."

"I bet you don't actually believe that and you're just saying it to make me feel better about this whole stupid mess of a mission."

"That's not…" Axel took a deep breath. "Okay. No more lies. Xion isn't supposed to be here."

Roxas' jaw hung open for a second. "Wha…why not?"

"Because this is where she's from."

Roxas' expression grew even more exaggerated. _"What?_ What are you talking about?"

"She was…she was born here. And it's supposed to be a secret."

"Why? I was told this was a place for research! Is she some kind of science project or something?!"

Axel scratched the back of his neck for a second. "…In a way."

"So yes?"

"Yes."

Axel felt a sudden, stabbing pain in his gut. It took him a second to register that Roxas had just punched him. It took him another second to realize that he was now sitting on the floor, with Roxas stomping menacingly around him, circling him like a predator circling a cornered prey.

He got up quickly. "Whoa, whoa, easy now, easy—"

Roxas shoved him again. "You never told me this!"

Axel stepped back a few steps intentionally, holding his hands up in a defensive position. "I told you there was something going on that needed to stay secret."

"You didn't tell me that Xion was a _research project!_ Is this why Saix used to call her an 'it'? Is this why Xigbar calls her Poppet, because she's some kind of puppet made here? And why is this all a secret? What are you not telling me, Axel?"

"In order, yes, also yes, it's a secret because we need her and right now I'm telling you everything."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "You should have told me—no, _us_ everything from the start."

Axel ran his hands through his hair. "That was not possible. How many times do I have to tell you that it was supposed to be a secret?"

"Why do we 'need' her?"

"Because with her, Kingdom Hearts gets done twice as fast."

Roxas crossed his arms. "If that's really the only reason, then why is it so secret where she came from?"

"Because if she knew, do you _really_ think she would take it well? You don't seem to be taking it too well yourself, and you're not the Replica."

Roxas was silent for a second. "…Replica?"

And it was over. Axel knew right then that everything was about to change. He took a second to resign himself to it, even though he wasn't remotely ready for it.

"What do you mean 'replica'? Replica of _what?"_

Axel took the longest breath he could get away with, holding it in for a few seconds. "…I…if I tell you…everything is going to change. Okay? Everything you know about Xion…everything about our friendship…everything is going to change. And that's why I kept it secret for so long." He bent down to Roxas' level. "It's because I love you and Xion. I don't know how it's possible, but I do. And the thought of losing you guys is the scariest thing in all the worlds for me."

Roxas fell silent again. After a moment, he ran toward Axel and hug-tackled him.

"I love you too, Axel. I really do. I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately."

Axel hugged him back. "Hey, it isn't like I didn't deserve it."

Roxas didn't let go. "You say everything is going to change?"

"Maybe not everything. We'll still be best friends, no matter what. But things won't be the same. Xion is going to have some choices to make…a lot of choices. And it's going to be hard. But we'll get through this together, no matter what. I promise."

"As friends?"

"No. As a family."

Roxas hugged a little tighter. "What's a family?"

"A family is a lot like friends…except that they love each other, and they're inseparable."

"…I like that."

Axel smiled. "You know, another thing about family is that you don't choose it. Destiny chooses it for you. And destiny chose me to care for you, always."

Roxas snorted. "Destiny?"

"Well, I guess more like _you_ chose me."

Finally, Roxas let go and stepped back, smiling. "Well then, I'm glad I chose you. That we chose you."

Axel nodded. "And I'm glad you chose me."

Roxas' held his smile for a second. Then, it faded, gone without a trace. He sighed. "Tell me…tell me everything."

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _Xion! I was looking all over for you. I wanted to tell you happy birthday!"_

 _Go away, Sora._

" _Hey…what's wrong?"_

… _I'm afraid._

" _Of what?"_

 _Growing up._

" _Why is that so scary?"_

 _Because when you grow up, things change. I don't want anything to change. I want us to just play on this island forever…_

"… _Xion, we're going to stay friends forever, no matter how much we grow up. I promise."_

… _Okay. Thank you._

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **Yet more drama packed in the tiny package of a fifty thousand word story! HOW MUCH MORE CAN THIS FIC TAKE?! …Okay, yes, I'm rambling for more words. A writer's gotta do what he's gotta do. :P**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter eleven, where things heat up even more than they already have for our heroes…**


	11. Chapter 11

**I noticed a really odd thing about multi-chapter stories. You start to run out of titles for chapters after a while. :P Anyway, I will admit that this is kind of a breather chapter until the third scene. Kind of a side-effect of being behind on my word count. :P But it gets better, I promise. Enjoy!**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XI**

 **Whispers**

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _Poppet is obsessed with you, Roxas."_

" _Call her Xion! And my name's Sora! Where's the real Roxas?"_

" _He's pretty close, and so is Poppet. You just need to dig a little deeper. Maybe inside your own memories. Have you payed enough attention to your memories lately?"_

" _Get out of the way or I'm going to hurt you!"_

" _Now we're talking. Come on! I want to see how you dance!"_

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xion hid in the corner of the bunk bed blanket tent, doing the breathing exercises Zexion had instructed her in just minutes ago. It wasn't helping much, mostly because she didn't believe for a second what the same man had told her about her memories.

The memories that she now held had the feeling of memories, that feeling of 'rightness' that separates true memories from imagined experiences or half-remembered dreams. They had to be the truth, no matter what anyone else said. Zexion, Namine, Axel, Roxas, anyone who told her that her version of reality wasn't true _had_ to be wrong. That was that, as far as she was concerned. And when she got to Sora, she would be validated. She looked forward to this a lot.

But she couldn't go without Roxas, Namine and Riku. That was a problem. Roxas and Namine didn't believe her story, and Riku had more or less vanished since the last encounter. Xion needed to find a way to get the first two on her side and go find the third.

But now Zexion was watching her every move. Even if he didn't say it, Xion got the feeling that he _did_ think she had gone crazy.

She poked her head out and looked at Zexion. "Why do you need to watch me?"

Zexion kept reading, which was safe for him to do because he had crafted a sound illusion that made Xion's tiniest footsteps sound like large objects being thrown to the floor. "I have to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret."

"Like what?"

"Maybe like running away from your entire support structure."

Xion bit her lip, considering how to approach this. "…Can Namine watch me?"

"No. She's not an adult like I am."

Xion laid back down and faced the wall. "I just want to see Sora again…"

Zexion sighed, put down his book and sat on the bed again. "Xion, you have to accept that you are the only person who has the memories you have."

"That's a lie. Sora would remember me, I know it."

Another sigh. "Well…he would. But that's not because he knew you previously. Namine was affecting his memory, too."

Xion curled up into a ball. "Stop lying. I'm done with all the lying."

"The only things lying here are your own memories."

Xion felt tears bunching up in her eyes. She had been getting a crash course in holding them back lately. Of course, she was constantly failing her classes. Still, she kept trying to hold them back as best she could. "Memories can't lie…"

"Xion, even without someone like Namine, memory is malleable. You forget things, and your mind fills the blank space with something that isn't real because it hates forgetting things. Forgetting creates void, and the mind hates void."

Xion shook her head. "That's wrong. When I couldn't remember, everything before my first day in the Organization was this dark void. I still remember seeing void, Zexion! That's when they were erasing my memory!"

"No, your brain just put void there to explain to itself why everything before that point is gone. Before all this, it was essentially trying to convince you that all reality came into existence at the moment your memory finally kicked in."

Xion sniffled, still trying hard not to cry again. "Maybe I'll start listening to you when you start making some sense…"

Zexion held Xion's arm. "I hate to make you cry. I really do. I shouldn't be able to feel anything, and yet I feel hurt inside for making you feel this way. But I have to give you the cold, hard truth, whether you like it or not, because it's the only way to save you."

Xion didn't even bother trying to resist Zexion's grip. She knew it was pointless. "You're going to cast some happy illusion that makes me sleep again, aren't you?"

"Not unless you want that. I do have ethics about using my powers without some necessity. Though honestly, I think a nap would help you."

"You'll just make me forget Sora again…"

"No, I won't. I won't do anything right now." Zexion leaned close. "I'm going to let you cry and scream and rant and rave all you want. It won't change anything about your situation, but I at least hope letting your feelings out will help you calm down. The most important thing you can do right now is be calm."

Xion let her tears come out of her eyelids, not because Zexion had told her to, but because she couldn't hold back any longer. "Why are you doing this to me…?"

Zexion moved back up and stared at the wall, keeping his grip tight. "To keep you safe."

"I don't want to be safe, I want to see Sora."

"The best thing you can do for Sora right now is stay safe."

Xion started shaking. "I want to see Sora."

Zexion made his hold even tighter. "You can't see Sora right now."

Xion's voice cracked. "Why not?!"

"Because then you wouldn't be safe."

"Let me see Sora!"

Zexion turned to Xion, tapping her to make her give him eye contact. "Xion, you're being pathetic. I've seen sugar-hyped toddlers with better composure. It hurts to see you like this. This isn't you, Xion."

"You're just trying to make me forget him again!"

"Xion, the more worked up you get, the harder it gets to think, and the harder it gets to think, the harder it gets to not go insane."

Xion couldn't stand to look at Zexion anymore, so she shut her eyes as tightly as she could. "I'm not crazy!"

"That's right. You're not crazy. But you _will_ be crazy if you can't calm down."

"When will you get the message that I don't _want_ to be calm?!"

"Why don't you want to be calm?"

"I'll lose my memories again!"

Zexion placed his free hand on her forehead. "I want you to focus on your happiest memory of Sora."

"Why? You hate my memories!"

"I am neutral toward your memories. And if focusing on Sora helps you feel calm, then so be it."

Xion ran out of energy for shaking and yelling, and just went limp. "I'll fall asleep if I calm down…don't let me sleep…"

Zexion shook his head. "Sleep is going to help you. And you won't lose any memories."

"…Promise?"

"I promise."

Maybe Xion was being overly trusting, but she didn't have too much time to think about that before the feeling of Zexion's grip faded and she couldn't hear her own thoughts anymore.

0=0=0=0=0=0

Saix crossed his legs as he always did and looked up at Xemnas. "Superior, the situation at Castle Oblivion is deteriorating rapidly. Xion now carries memories that place her in the false reality Marluxia crafted for Sora."

Xemnas shook his head. "Do not worry for our plans. All is as the mighty Kingdom Hearts wills it."

"You want her to discover the truth, is that correct?"

"Of course, as I have told you."

"Then why give her a reason not to? She is convinced that finding Sora will be her salvation."

Xemnas grinned. "If she finds her way to Sora, the end result is the same. She disappears into nothing, as she should, and the True Keybearer becomes stronger for it."

Saix sighed. "I still think the true end result will be defeat."

Xemnas closed his eyes, still smiling. "You have always been stubborn, Number VII. That is part of why you are my right-hand man. You have the needed loyalty and refusal to back down. But it seems those very things are coming to impede my plans."

"Thinking of our members as disposable can only lead to ruin."

"Why do you choose to bring this up? Is it because you fear that I may now consider _you_ disposable?"

Saix didn't break his cool demeanor for a second, though on the inside he could feel some shadow of Somebody-like terror. "Of course not, Superior."

Xemnas leaned back in his throne. "Good, because I don't consider you disposable. Not yet, anyway. But if you continue to question me like this, then I might."

"There will be no need for that, Superior."

"I should hope not, Number VII. I should hope not."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xigbar strolled into the meeting room, still carrying his arrowguns. "I gave Sora a good show, just like you wanted."

Marluxia tapped his fingers on the table, not bothering to look back at Xigbar. "Good. I never expected him to get this far, this quickly, you know. Thus is the power of the Keybalde, I suppose."

Xigbar laughed. "You'd like your own Keyblade, wouldn't you? Can't say that I don't relate."

"And why would you care?"

"Honestly? I don't. I actually wanted to talk to you about Poppet."

Marluxia smiled. "I would assume you care even less about that."

Xigbar walked up next to Marluxia. "Oh, Roseboy, I care a lot when you're driving her bonkers. I already told you that insane Poppet is dead Poppet. And dead Poppet just isn't to helpful for us, is she? You see, there's this thing about dead people. They don't do much. Dead Nobodies, even less. Mostly, they fade into nothing."

Marluxia didn't let that stupid smile leave his face for a single second. "If she becomes too much trouble, I can always get Namine to restore her to original factory settings. Shouldn't be too hard. This is the factory, after all."

Xigbar snapped his fingers dramatically. "Oh, Zombie Poppet, clever idea. Maybe Zombie Tiger, too, now there's an idea! A couple perfect little dolls who follow our every direction. Why didn't Xemnas ever think of this? Oh, wait, now I remember, _because you made her befriend them, and she won't want to do it._ Aw, gosh darn it! Not the smartest move now, huh?"

Marluxia snorted. "Not to worry. I'll make it so that it isn't a matter of _wanting_ to do it."

Xigbar crossed his arms. "Come on, she's naïve, not _stupid._ She knows you need her, and you won't just off her."

"What makes you think she even knows her true purpose?"

"Bookworm told her."

Marluxia turned around. His smile was replaced by a scowl. _"What?"_

Xigbar shrugged. "Hey, I get around a lot, I hear a lot of whispers. You're welcome."

Marluxia took a second to regain his cool. "All right, no matter…eliminate Zexion. That traitor is of no further use to us."

Xigbar stroked his chin. "I don't know…I don't like just shooting someone at the first sign of poor loyalty. Usually, if you play with your food a bit, you can still milk a little more benefit out of them. And I think I have just the idea."

Marluxia considered this. "…Fine. But if your idea ends up causing more trouble than it's worth, you're dead."

Xigbar grinned. "Fair enough. And what about our little witch?"

"You are to bring Namine to me. I will deal with her appropriately."

Xigbar made a dramatic bow and put on a fake British accent. "It shall be done, my Royal Highness."

Marluxia made the little laugh again, shaking his head. "I am no king, Xigbar. I am the servant. But if we do this right, we can _all_ be kings…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **There, see? I told you it would get better. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter twelve!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, for the first time in a while, I'm actually writing the author note** _ **before**_ **writing the main chapter. Gah. :P I just thought I would put a little mildly interesting aside that I recently watched Inside Out, and it kind of makes me want to just write the next chapter of Unforgettable and include it in the word count. That is one disadvantage of NaNoWriMo—all other writing projects stop unless you're willing to 'cheat' on your novel a little. :P I decided to promise right now that no matter what happens, I** _ **will**_ **finish this story. You will see the words 'the end' before December 1** **st** **, I promise. :)**

 **Well, that's enough NaNo angst for one author note. Onwards to the real chapter!**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XII**

 **The Reluctant Father**

0=0=0=0=0=0

Roxas took a long, deep breath. "So that's it."

Axel nodded. "Yeah. That's it."

Roxas realized he was shaking his head without realizing it. He didn't try to stop. "So…we're both Sora, then?"

Axel sighed. "No. For any other Nobody, that would be true. But you two…you're special. You can coexist with Sora somehow, as long as you don't get too close to him. So you're separate people."

Roxas rubbed his face. "You know what? No. We can't coexist. Xion is supposed to drain my power, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it seems to have stopped. At least, I hope so."

"And it's Sora who's the link that lets her do that. Right?"

"I think that's how it works, yeah."

Roxas looked Axel in the eye. "Then all three of us can't exist at the same time. Either Xion will absorb me, I'll absorb her, or Sora will absorb both of us…or…"

Axel's face showed he knew what was coming. "Or what?"

"…Or we absorb Sora."

Axel shook his head. "That isn't how it works, Roxas. This whole situation isn't supposed to be happening. It's one big cosmic glitch. And for the universe, the easiest way out is to get rid of the people who don't exist."

"Axel, we do exist."

"Don't say things like that, Roxas. It's dangerous."

"But how can we not exist?" Roxas started counting on his fingers. "We can be seen. We can be heard. We can be touched. We can see and hear and touch other things. We can see and hear and touch _each other._ "

"None of that matters to the universe. To the universe, existence means _having a heart."_

"Tables don't have hearts. Ice cream doesn't have a heart. The clocktower doesn't have a heart."

Axel held Roxas by the shoulders. "Roxas. Stop it. It's dangerous to say stuff like this, okay? If Xemnas heard all this, he'd think you were a traitor. Then he'd get rid of both of you. Do you understand me?"

Roxas thought for a second, then sighed. "…Sorry. I just…" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I really hate the Organization now."

Axel pulled Roxas into a hug. "I know. But I can't lose you guys."

Roxas closed his eyes. "That's why we need to get rid of Sora. So that we can stay together forever."

"If it were that simple…"

Roxas looked up. "Would you kill him? If it were that simple?"

Axel bit his lip. "…Maybe I would try. But I probably wouldn't have it in me to kill a kid. Especially a kid who's so connected to you, so _similar_ to you."

"Then I'll kill him."

" _No._ He would just absorb you."

"Not if I kill him before he can do that."

Axel hugged Roxas a little tighter. "Look…I don't want to take this risk. And killing people is a really bad thing, okay? You want to avoid it as much as you possibly can. When you've killed someone, that never goes away. It just follows you around forever. And I don't want you to have to deal with that kind of burden."

Roxas sighed. "I can handle it if it means Xion will be safe."

"Roxas, please…you have to get this idea out of your head."

"Why are you treating me like a little kid?"

Axel seemed to let out a small, sad laugh. "Probably a side-effect of being the father of this family."

"What's a father?"

"A father…I guess a father is pretty much everything I am. So I'm a father. How about that?"

Roxas couldn't help but smile. "You're a good father, then."

"That's good to hear." Axel tightened his grip on Roxas as much as he could. "We're going to get through this, no matter what happens, okay?"

"I know. But we have to keep Xion safe."

"We'll find a way. I promise."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Occasionally, Zexion would look up from his book to check on Xion. She was still out cold. That was good. As long as she was asleep, she couldn't try anything dangerous and her body and mind had time to heal. Of course, Zexion didn't know yet how to heal her properly, but he kind of hoped some natural system in her body would do all the work for him.

"Poppet's cute when she's asleep, isn't she?"

Zexion turned. "Could you please get out?"

Xigbar laughed. "Hey, where did your manners go?"

"Says the one who calls Xion 'Poppet' for no reason except to make fun of her origins."

Xigbar crossed his arms, smiling. "Well, it's probably worse manners to go against the plan we agreed upon, isn't it?"

Zexion put on the poker face that had been known to fool Luxord. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've followed the plan to the letter."

Xigbar snorted. "As if. Don't play dumb, Bookworm. I heard everything you told our little witch. You know what, I'll call her Witch, I've been looking for a good nickname."

"Mind refreshing my memory on what I told her?"

"Oh, only about how she can control people's memories and potentially destroy us all. Ring a bell?"

Zexion sighed. "In that case, I must admit that I don't understand how telling someone what their job is makes you a traitor."

"There was also that little part about how you told her to stop drawing, putting the entire plan in jeopardy…but you know, that's no big deal, right?"

Zexion stood up. Xigbar was slightly taller than him, but that didn't intimidate him one bit. "I'm trying to heal her. She's part of the Underground Group. My group, my rules."

Xigbar shook his head. "Not according to Roseboy. He thinks you kind of overstepped your bounds here. But don't worry. We'll let you off with a warning as long as you do something for us."

"Blackmail. You take after Axel."

"Kid, I was using blackmail before Flamesilocks was even conceived. Now, here's what you're going to do. Remember Riku? Capture him, see what the Replica Program can really do."

Zexion raised his eyebrow. "You make Replica creation sound simple."

Xigbar shrugged. "Hey, I'm just assigning the task. It's up to you to carry it out."

"And let me guess. If I refuse, you blast my head off when I least expect it."

"More or less."

"Then I don't have a choice, now do I?" Zexion stuck his hand out. "It shall be done."

Xigbar took the hand and shook it in an overly theatrical fashion. "Great to do business with you, Bookworm! Now. About Witch. Where is she?"

"I moved her to Lexaeus' room. She says she has fun with the puzzles. Why?"

"Roseboy wants a little private chat with her."

Zexion thought about this. He got the feeling that this 'chat' wouldn't be too civil. But just because he didn't have a choice in a matter didn't have to mean he couldn't exert some amount of control, as long as he played his cards right.

He pretended to go back to his book. "All right. On the condition that Lexaeus goes with her. And be sure to tell him that I sent him."

Xigbar laughed. "You understand that I know that you want him to be her bodyguard, right? Don't think I don't see right through you."

"I figured that you would. But remember, you need Namine too. Don't you?"

Xigbar grinned. "True, very true. You're finally catching on to the big game, huh?"

"Catching on?" Zexion snorted. "Xigbar, I've been playing the game since I joined the Organization. Playing the game means survival."

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **There we go. A nice twenty thousand words. Well, more twenty thousand, seven hundred and thirty nine. (I know that was not proper formatting. :P) And I'm FINALLY out of week two, the hardest part of this whole endeavor. As far as I see it, I can really only go up from here. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for lucky chapter thirteen!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Welcome to chapter thirteen! Today is when I finally buckle down and try to get my word debt back down to acceptable levels, if not eliminate it entirely. So, there will probably be more than one chapter today, though I am not making any promises. Just a heads up for you. :)**

 **I've got a bit of a twist for you in this one. Enjoy!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XIII**

 **The Final Stage Approaches**

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Roxas walked back into Xion's room, sighing. He sat down next to the bed, looking at Xion, still fast asleep. All the times they had talk together, all the ice cream and sunsets, all the love…did it not matter to the Organization? To the universe?

Because it mattered to Roxas.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. Zexion was standing over him, watching Xion. "She's going to be okay."

Roxas looked back at Xion. "Axel told me everything."

"About her nature?"

"Yeah."

Zexion closed his eyes. "We can find a way to avoid that fate."

"Can we, though?" Roxas held Xion's cheek. "We'll have to tell her when she wakes up."

"Not necessarily."

"I don't want any more lies, Zexion. No more secrets, either. She has to know."

Zexion squeezed Roxas' shoulder, then let go. "You have to make the choice you think is right."

Roxas shook his head. "I don't even know whether there is a right choice. They all seem bad."

"That happens a lot in life. You have to power through it." Zexion sat down on the floor in a cross-legged position, watching Xion. "Everything turns out okay in the end. That's what I've learned."

"How did you learn that?"

Zexion was silent for a bit. "…Experience." He turned to Roxas. "You know, you look a lot like someone I used to know."

"Who?"

More silence. "…An acquaintance."

Before Roxas could question further, Xion started shuddering, catching his attention. "I'm awake," she murmured, as if only just noticing the fact herself.

Roxas held her hand. "Hey. How long have you been up?"

"I don't know…were you guys talking?"

"Yeah."

"Then I think I've been up since you started talking…I couldn't quite hear you, though, I just listened to my own thoughts…don't remember what they were…"

Roxas stroked her hair. "Do you want to go back to sleep? I can leave the room."

Xion thought for a moment. "…How long was I asleep?"

Zexion checked the clock. "A little over an hour. That's perfectly reasonable for a quick nap, unless you want to go back to sleep."

"No, I'll get up." Xion sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. "You were right, Zexion. I do feel better. And my memories didn't go away."

Zexion nodded. "I told you."

Roxas took a deep breath. "Hey…Xion, there's something we need to talk about…"

Xion sighed. "Is it about my memories?"

"Sort of."

Xion shook her head. "Then I don't feel like talking about it right now. Unless it's an emergency or something…"

Roxas almost said that it _was_ an emergency, but he stopped himself. "…We'll talk later then, okay?"

"Okay." Xion stared at her hands. "I'm sorry if I'm scaring you…"

"It isn't your fault." _It's Sora's fault._

Xion blinked. "What did you say?"

"I said that it isn't your fault."

"No, after that."

Roxas tilted his head. "I didn't say anything…"

Xion held her head. "Wha…Roxas, think something about me."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out something."

Roxas sighed, closed his eyes and brought up a mental image of himself sitting at the clocktower with her, eating ice cream, just the two of them.

Xion grunted. "Are you thinking about us eating ice cream?"

Roxas opened his eyes. "Wha—you can read my mind?"

Xion's breaths became shorter. "I…I think so, but I don't know…"

Zexion sighed. "Telepathy. Great."

Roxas turned. "What does that mean?"

"It means the final stage is going to be starting soon."

Xion started hyperventilating outright. "Final stage? Final stage of what? What's going on?"

Roxas felt himself start to panic as well, even though he knew exactly what was going on. He also found himself trying to catch his breath. He tried to keep himself calm. "Xion…first, you have to calm down because you're freaking me out, too."

Xion froze, then shut her eyes tight. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay." Roxas squeezed her hand a little tighter. "But that thing I said we needed to talk about…well, now it kind of is an emergency."

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Namine had to admit that having two large men standing near her, one of which was probably going to chew her out in a second and the other of which looked like he had been sent there specifically to beat something up, was not a very comfortable situation to be in. But still, she was determined to sit through it and keep Xion safe, even if it was slightly dangerous to her own health. With Lexaeus at her back, she'd probably be fine, or at least she hoped so.

Marluxia towered over her, putting on a smile that said 'I'm just disappointed, let's make things right.' "Namine. I was told Zexion told you about your powers, is that correct?"

Namine almost believed the smile. Almost. "Yes."

"And why did he do that, do you think?"

Namine tried to look Marluxia in the eye, but she just couldn't. His stare was too unsettling, too many fake emotions trying and failing to cover up the real one. She looked down at the floor. "He told me because we don't want to hurt Xion anymore."

Marluxia tapped his fingers on the table as if he were irritated. "And how on earth could your drawings be hurting that useless puppet?"

Namine found herself staring into Marluxia's eyes again as a stream of words simply spat out of her mouth. "She's not useless!"

Marluxia drew back in surprise, though that creepy smile didn't go away. It just became a little more strained. "Namine…I would _strongly_ advise you to watch your tone when speaking to me."

Namine drew back. "I'm sorry…"

Lexaeus spoke up. "I would watch my own tone as well if I were you, Marluxia."

Marluxia turned to Lexaeus, now somehow looking even more irritated than he already was. "Lexaeus. What gives you the authority to tell me to watch my tone?"

Lexaeus patted Namine's shoulder. "She does."

"How so?"

"You need her. I can take her away. _We_ can take her away."

Marluxia closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So you are telling me that the Underground is essentially holding her hostage and using her as a bargaining chip?"

Lexaeus nodded. "Yes."

Marluxia kept his eyes closed. "…Very well. Continue doing whatever it is you are doing. But be forewarned—and I want you sending this message to Zexion especially, because he apparently thinks he can do whatever he likes." Marluxia walked right in front of Lexaeus, coming just close enough to be invading his personal space. "Don't think that you're all clever playing this game. I have been playing this game much longer than anyone in the Organization, and I can play it much better than you could ever hope to."

Lexaeus nodded. "Then I suppose we will have to be very careful."

Marluxia stepped back again. "You should be extremely cautious. For Xion's sake as well as your own."

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter fourteen! …And now I have to get three thousand more words… :P**


	14. Chapter 14

**Another beautiful result of my word crackdown. I am actually pretty proud of this chapter, considering the twist I managed to throw in. Don't worry, you'll see what I mean in just a little bit. :) It also has the first real fight scene in this entire fic. That was cool. :)**

 **Enough hype and smilies! Enjoy chapter fourteen!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XIV**

 **Voices**

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Xion wasn't sure whether she had actually absorbed and understood all of the information that Roxas had just told her. What she was sure of was that the information was wrong, a total sham in every single way. And she made a point to say as much.

"I'm not Sora! He's him and I'm me!"

Roxas held her arm. "That's right. I'm not saying you're the same, okay?"

Xion shook her head. "No. Axel told you this to try to keep you from remembering like I did."

Zexion leaned forward from the chair he had taken residence in. "If your version is the truth, then explain the telepathy."

Xion thought about it, then found that more memories came to her. "We always had telepathy, but the Organization took it away to keep Sora from finding us, but now—"

Zexion held his hand up. "Stop. It looks like it's worse than I thought. Your mind is creating new memories on its own to explain things that it can't explain normally."

Xion grit her teeth. "You're lying!"

"Xion, if you keep this up, we'll have to take the false memories away, and I know you don't want that, and honestly I don't want to do that to you."

Xion covered her mouth and shrank back. "…Okay," she said in a small voice. "I'll be quiet. Just don't take my memories away."

Roxas pulled her close. "Everything's going to be okay."

Xion curled up next to him. "Hey, even if I don't believe you, I still love you, okay? Remember that."

Roxas nodded. "And I still love you."

Xion was quiet for a minute, then scratched her neck. "Um, if you could prove that I'm a Replica or whatever, I think I'd believe you. I wouldn't want to, but I would…"

Roxas looked to Zexion. "Is there a place I can find proof for her?"

Zexion thought about this. "There are files on the thirteenth floor, but they're classified on a need-to-know basis. Now luckily for you, I happen to have a need to know. But I'm going to need a little help…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

This was how Roxas ended up on basement patrol with Axel…and Vexen.

The team selection process had been rather simple. Axel wanted to help, Lexaeus was still working as a bodyguard for Namine, Zexion didn't like the idea of leaving Xion to her own devices, and Vexen…well, Vexen was Vexen. It was probably better than having _him_ watch Xion, but still, Roxas was a little disappointed. But he was willing to do anything to help Xion, up to and including working with his mortal enemy.

Of course, Vexen was not very sympathetic to the cause.

He crossed his arms. "How does finally seeing your so-called lover turn against you feel?"

Roxas grit his teeth, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. "Vexen, if you don't shut up, I will tear out your spine. Then you won't have a spine. And you will be sad."

Vexen huffed, but shut his mouth nonetheless. Axel grinned and patted Roxas on the shoulder. "Now _that_ is how you shut up an annoying person."

"Yeah." Roxas gave Vexen a hard stare. "I don't have time for your stupid game of Mad Scientist, so just be quiet and do this right."

Vexen looked away. "Very well. I'm not an idiot, you know."

"Really? I had no idea that you had a _brain_ in that skull."

Axel snorted. "You can give some pretty decent banter."

Roxas walked ahead. "Mostly, I'm so done with him that several months worth of resentment is coming out all at once."

He went up to the doors, cracked it open a bit and peeked inside. For a second, he saw no one in there, but then he heard footsteps and turned to the source of the noise. That's when he spotted the silver-haired boy Zexion had described for them. He seemed like he was talking to himself, though Roxas couldn't make out the words. Something about darkness and how someone needed to shut up.

He turned to the others behind him and waved them forward. If they all went in fast and hard right now, they could probably catch this Riku guy off-guard and capture him easily. At least, that was the plan. The backup plan was for Roxas to beat him into submission and hoped what remained of his body was enough for Zexion. He had been the one who triggered Xion's 'memories', after all, so Roxas automatically hated him.

Axel counted down from three, then the Nobodies knocked the door down and rushed in. Before Riku could react, Vexen brought up a wall of ice to trap him. The scientist snorted. "Well, that was insanely easy. All thanks to—"

Riku sliced through the wall with what appeared to be some kind of sword in the shape of a bat's wing. Roxas charged, preparing for a quick uppercut with his Keyblade, but Riku easily parried the blow and made a counterstrike, knocking him aside.

Axel grinned. "Impressive. You really are Sora's friend."

Riku maintained battle stance. "Why are you talking? Are you scared?"

"Not in the slightest. Let's see how you handle this!"

Axel threw his chakrams, and a column of flame followed them, running between them in their flight path. Riku dodged out of the way just in time, but one of the chakrams hit his sword at just the right moment, forcing him to drop it. Before he could react, Roxas was on him, pinning him down and keeping a Keyblade on his throat, just hard enough to give him a nice scare.

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "You're coming with us."

Riku's expression didn't waver. "Not on your life."

Riku kicked Roxas away and summoned his sword back like a Keyblade. Roxas was about to get up again, but then he realized just how hard Riku had hit, as demonstrated by Roxas' inability to even move his hands away from his stomach from the pain. His vision blurred a bit, and for a second he thought he was going to pass out.

He heard a familiar voice. _"Where am I? Roxas?"_

Roxas blinked. "Xion…?"

Xion sounded distressed. _"I was just going to take a nap, but I see you and Axel and Vexen and Riku…am I dreaming?"_

Roxas grunted. "Well, I wish I was…"

Xion's breath got a little shorter. _"Are you hurt?"_

"Yes, but I'll be…I'll be fine, I think…"

" _Heal…heal…"_

"Xion, I don't think magic will…huh?"

Roxas felt the pain fade, and managed to stand up. When he brought Oathkeeper to his right hand, he could feel something forming in his left. It felt like a Keyblade. When he looked, he saw what Keyblade it was and gasped.

Oblivion. Also known as Darklight.

 _Xion's_ Keyblade.

"What the…"

Roxas didn't have any more time to think. Riku charged, forcing Roxas to block the blow with Oathkeeper. That's when he discovered the first advantage of dual-wield—it was much easier to counterattack. He used Darklight to knock Riku off his feet, then knocked the sword out of his hands again and pointed both the Keyblades at his face, ready to stab him in the eyes if the need arose.

Roxas spoke through gritted teeth. "Okay. This time, you really _are_ coming with us."

Before Riku could react, Roxas knocked him out with a quick blow to the head with Darklight's handle.

Darklight vanished, and Roxas heard Xion's voice again. _"Huh, huh, what happened, what happened, I blacked out, wha—"_

Roxas closed his eyes. "Calm," he whispered. "Just be calm."

Xion seemed to take a second. _"…Okay. I don't know what just happened, though…I have to be dreaming, but it doesn't feel like a dream…"_

"It isn't. And I'll talk to you about it when I get back to prove it for you."

" _Okay…is Axel okay?"_

Roxas looked around the room. Both Axel and Vexen were knocked out, but they didn't have any particularly nasty injuries, just a few cuts and scrapes. "He'll be all right. And so will Vexen, unfortunately."

Xion snorted. _"Just because literally no one likes him doesn't mean you can leave him behind."_

"I know, I know…" He closed his eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"

" _I think…"_ Her voice became fainter. _"I think I'm blacking out again, wake me up when you get back."_

Roxas nodded. "Okay. I love you."

After a second, he realized that the voice that had come out of his mouth was not his own voice. It was too high-pitched, too feminine. When he tried again, though, the effect was gone, and Xion was nowhere to be found inside his head. But it left him confused and a little scared.

Had he imagined it, or had he just spoken in Xion's exact voice?

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **See? I threw in a good twist. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter fifteen! Okay, only one thousand, three hundred and fifty six words to go…I** _ **know**_ **that's not proper number writing grammar, words are words… :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**FINALLY, at 25k, my word count is mostly eliminated. I am quite happy at how this turned out. This is easily one of my best comeback stories for NaNoWriMo ever. I love it. Of course, I love all my fanfic. :) Onwards!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XV**

 **Lost in the Dark**

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Roxas walked back into the 'quarantine room', as it was now marked. Xion was, to his surprise, reading some manga. But as soon as he entered, she threw the book aside and waved him over. He sat down next to her on the bed, holding her hand.

Xion looked him in the eyes. "Was it real? Tell the truth."

Roxas nodded. "All of it."

Xion breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Kingdom Hearts, I thought I was finally going really crazy…Zexion told me not to talk about it until you got back."

Roxas turned to Zexion. "Do you know what happened to us?"

Zexion looked up from his notes. "You experienced telepathy again, correct?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. And I summoned her Keyblade, too."

"What?" Xion asked. "I didn't know about that…"

"That was when you blacked out."

Zexion thought about this. "…Can you try to summon it again?"

Roxas tried this. The black Keyblade appeared in his hand again. When Xion tried to call it to her hand, it wouldn't come.

"Hmm…it seems that the assimilation is occurring at an even faster rate than I feared." Zexion stood up. "Castle Oblivion seems to be making it happen at an exponentially increasing rate. We have to move quickly if we're going to save both of you."

Roxas held Xion's hand tight. "What are we going to do?"

"The ideal option would be to send you both out of here, but you can't return to the castle and I can't think of any other place for you to go."

"Twilight Town?"

Zexion shook his head. "It's too obvious, and Xemnas would be searching all over the worlds for you no matter where you went. Without sending you out of here, we probably can't stop it. But we can slow it down. Roxas, you are going to go to the thirteenth floor and stay there. Xion, you are going to stay here. You'll be put into sedation and closely monitored."

Xion shrank away. "You mean you're going to make me sleep?"

"Yes, with an illusion. It won't be scary, I promise. It'll be like a nice dream."

Xion bit her lip. "This happened when I was asleep, though…"

"That's why I'll be monitoring you. I saw you thrashing about a bit. I'll wake you up if something starts."

"…I don't want to lose my memories…"

Zexion held her shoulder. "I..can't promise you'll keep them this time. But whatever happens, it's going to turn out okay."

Xion held her head again. "I want to keep them, why can't I keep them…?"

"Why are you so afraid of losing them? I mean the deepest, emotional reason."

Xion held her chest. "Because of my friends…I don't want to lose my friends…I don't want to be alone again…"

Roxas gently pulled the hand that was still holding her head down to the bed and squeezed it. "You won't lose me or Axel or Namine. We're your friends. You won't be alone."

Xion was quiet for a bit. "…Okay. Stay with me always, okay? Promise."

"I promise."

"Thank you. If what happened happens again, let me know it's real, okay?"

Roxas nodded. "I will."

She looked to Zexion. "I'll wake up, right?"

Zexion nodded. "Yes, when you're safe again. If all goes well, it'll feel like you never fell asleep at all, and you'll be able to go back to life as normal."

Xion smiled a bit. "I'll be home?"

"Hopefully, yes."

"I'd like that…a lot…"

Roxas pulled her into a hug. "I guess I have to head upstairs. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too. I love you."

"I love you, too. Always."

The Keybearers stayed in their embrace for a long time that still felt too short, then Roxas let go and headed out of the room and upstairs, looking back at Xion as she waved goodbye.

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The research lab in Castle Oblivion was far bigger than Vexen's own laboratory back at the Castle That Never Was. Storage tanks, containing various failed experiments, sat around the room, holding various bodies. All of them looked like close friends of Sora. The one in the center of the room, the foundry and original home of Vexen's most successful project ever, was shown in a spotlight and inscribed with the simple marking _No.i._

Xigbar walked around the room, taking in the various science equipment. "So, Doc, how long is this thing going to take to make?"

Vexen rolled his eyes at the nickname. "It shouldn't take long. With a live captive like this, I could make a whole assembly line of replica Riku bodies. We could have an army large enough to conquer entire worlds within a week."

Xigbar scratched his chin. "I kind of like that, and I think Xemnas will, too…but let's see how the first one works out first, shall we?"

"Of course." Vexen grabbed a small orb that glowed blue, green and red. "This memory should do quite nicely. A nice, ferocious, non-lovey-dovey Keybearer will be a nice change of pace, in my opinion."

Xigbar grinned. "Nice idea. But throw in _something_ lovey-dovey. A false memory, preferably. It's part of the plan."

Vexen scowled. "How could something that ridiculous be a good basis for the replica?"

"Isn't it obvious? People who are madly in love are easy to manipulate. I'm surprised you never noticed it in Tiger and Poppet."

Vexen smiled. "Ah, that is very true, now isn't it? I suppose that one thing I will miss about those wretched brats is their gullibility. Again and again, they fell for simple schemes. It was a little painful at times, but it was quite fun."

Xigbar laughed. "I guess I will miss messing with Tiger. But no one's going to miss Poppet at all, remember? Not even Daddy Flamesilocks."

Vexen made a huge, menacing grin. "Honestly, I look forward to forgetting that failure of a replica."

Vexen pulled another memory out of the container he had put all the data he had collected in. This one was a bright, golden yellow. He stuck the two memories into a new, empty storage tank, hit a few buttons and started the machine. It hummed and glowed with energy, as if it were a miniature sun.

Vexen grinned. "This will be my greatest project in my entire life, both as a Nobody and as a Somebody."

Xigbar just walked off with a smirk on his face. "Looks like all that time you wasted trying to split up the sea-salt trio finally paid off, my friend. The band is breaking up on its own, and we won't even be remembering the lead singer…"

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 _*BZZT*_

" _You're better off without that wretched boy."_

 _*BZZT*_

" _I'll keep you safe, Namine."_

 _*BZZT*_

 _REPLICA FORMATION PROCESS AT 15%_

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Zexion heard the sound of a dark corridor opening and looked up. He was quite surprised when a certain blue-haired man stepped out of the portal. He stood at attention. "Saix. I wasn't expecting you."

"No one was expecting me. Not even the Superior." Saix looked to Xion. "Is she alive?"

Zexion nodded. "I put her in a deep sleep to slow down the merging process between her and Roxas."

"Will she wake from this?"

"With any luck, yes."

"Hmph." Saix pulled a small stuffed elephant out of his pocket. "She likes to sleep with this, but she accidentally left it behind at the Castle. Make sure she wakes up with it in her possession."

Zexion took the stuffed toy. "Is that all you came for?"

"No." Saix walked out of the room without looking back. "I came to stage a small intervention."

Zexion watched Saix go, then leaned down next to Xion and snugged the elephant into the crook of her arm. She smiled a bit, as if happy now that her friend was there with her to keep her company.

Zexion sighed and held her cheek. "I'll make sure you stay safe until you can make this decision on your own. I swear it on my life. Even if it means losing it."

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter sixteen!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Welcome to chapter sixteen! I have some catching up to do (again…), but don't worry, I can handle it! :) Here's another little chapter for you, where the all the players get ready to set things into motion…**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XVI**

 **I Don't Want To Be A Paradox**

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Of all the floors in this stupid castle, it was safe to say that Roxas hated the 13th floor the most. It seemed just the same as any of the non-memory-based floors, of course, but it was presently home to his three current least favorite people in the Organization besides the Superior himself, Larxene, Marluxia and Xigbar.

And also, instead of being given Axel's room to share, he had been stuffed into what was probably the smallest room in the castle that was not a closet. There was also that.

Instead of a bed, this room had a mattress with a small quilt, no sheets and no pillow lying on the ground. Besides the dim light fixture on the ceiling, there was nothing else in the room. Actually, it might have been a closet—after all, a walk-in closet is still a closet. It was at least nice to know where he stood in this Organization. That was about all Roxas could say for this place.

He plopped down on the mattress (no real point pretending it was a bed) and sighed. "I might as well sleep until this is over like Xion…"

"That'd be a little bit boring, don't you think?"

Roxas turned to Axel, who was now standing at the doorway. "You could knock."

"Like you knock." Axel sat down next to Roxas and held him on the shoulder. "Sorry about the living conditions. Marluxia won't let me take you in."

Roxas huffed. "Figures. It's almost like he wants us apart as bad as Vexen does. And now he's our boss."

There was another familiar deep voice at the door. "I object strongly to that last statement."

Roxas blinked and whipped around. "Saix?"

"You have just said my name." Saix didn't bother to come in, let alone sit down. Instead, he stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Now then. If I'm going to save you and Xion, then there is much that needs to be done, and it needs to be done quickly."

Axel smiled. "What do you know? Mister Mean Scary Werewolf Robot Monster does care."

" _Hmph."_ Saix finally walked in, closing the door behind him. "I'll say this once, Lea. Because of you, I do care about them. And that is the one time I will ever acknowledge such care, so I hope you memorized it well."

Axel snorted and tapped his head. "Trust me, Isa. That's one thing I'll keep memorized forever."

Roxas tilted his head. "Why are you calling each other that?"

Axel turned. "We were friends before we were Nobodies. Maybe I should have told you before."

"Well, honestly, I figured."

Axel grinned and pulled Roxas close. "Finally, you're not a zombie."

Roxas playfully slapped Axel's hand away. "Oh, thanks!"

Axel snorted. "Honestly, you were easier to handle as a zombie. But I still like you better this way."

Saix didn't often try to imitate amusement, but he did pretty well. finally walked over and sat down on the mattress. "I will say this, Roxas. I think you are a better fit for Lea than I ever was."

Roxas looked at Saix. "Really?"

"Yes. I gave him someone to talk to. You gave him someone to talk _with._ And that is the most important distinction in any friendship."

Roxas smiled. "Thanks. But I'm going to be honest, I like Axel better."

"Good, because I wish to retain the privilege of calling him Lea." Saix clasped his hands together. "Now. We have to figure out a way for both you and Xion to live."

Roxas' response was immediate. "Kill Sora."

Axel sighed. "Rox…I mean, Roxas…"

Roxas shook his head. "No. You can call me Rox. Sorry I told you not to."

Axel blinked, then smiled a small, sad smile. "Okay. Rox…" His face went serious again. "I thought I had already gotten this idea out of you."

"Look, I _know_ it's a bad idea, okay? But it's our only option."

Saix closed his eyes. "Not necessarily. Really, our best option would be to get you out of here."

Roxas looked down. "That's what I want to do. But Zexion said we can't because Xemnas would notice and he'd hunt us down."

"That's true. So if our only option is to wait this mission out, then I suggest we do everything we can to cut it short."

"Cut it short? How can we cut it short?"

"Marluxia and Larxene are definitely planning something. Xigbar's reports have made that clear. So, we simply eliminate the traitors. Protocol dictates that command would transfer to Zexion, who would then initiate a withdrawal."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't Xemnas think withdrawing after getting rid of two traitors is kind of weird?"

Saix nodded. "That's why we have to make it look like an accident. Or better yet, make Sora do it so Zexion can claim that he's too powerful to safely manipulate."

Roxas slumped. So we _do_ need Sora?"

"Yes. Sora is our best chance of getting you both out of here alive."

Roxas stomped his foot. "He doesn't deserve to live!"

Axel gave Saix a quick look of horror, then held Roxas' shoulders tight. "Rox, I understand how you feel, okay? If there was some Lea running around and his existence threatened my girlfriend, I'd sure want to get rid of him. But the fact is that—"

"Let me guess. We ' _need'_ him. What for, Axel? What's the point of keeping that stupid jerk who thinks he's so hot he can take Xion away alive?"

Axel squeezed tighter "He's not doing it on purpose, Roxas. You realize that, right?"

Roxas brushed the hands of his shoulders and stood up. "That doesn't matter to me! What matters is whether Xion is safe, and she isn't safe at all with him still alive!"

"Roxas—"

Saix stood up, silencing both of them. He turned to Roxas and looked him in the eye. "Roxas. If Sora fades from existence, then so do you and Xion."

Roxas blinked. "Wouldn't I…absorb him or something?"

"The universe and the laws of physics and nature favor the existent. The nonexistent are a paradox. Thus, the universe must either remove the nonexistent or destroy the source of the paradox entirely."

Roxas narrowed his eyes, even though he seemed like he was calming down. "Xion and I aren't just a paradox…"

"I truly wish that were the case."

Roxas closed his eyes and slumped down on the mattress again. "I don't…I don't _want_ to just be a paradox…"

Axel pulled him into a hug. "Just because you're a paradox doesn't make you worth any less as a person. That's what I've learned from being a Nobody."

Roxas accepted the hug, though he didn't return it. "I just want Xion to be okay…"

"That's why we're here."

Saix nodded. "I'll make sure both of you get home safely."

Roxas sighed. "Can you really say it'll be okay with this mess?"

Axel hugged Roxas just a little tighter. "Mostly…that's in my job description."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Marluxia smiled his usual smile at Vexen and Xigbar as they entered the meeting room. "I assume it's ready?"

Vexen grinned. "Of course. I present to you my greatest achievement…the Riku Replica."

A boy with silver hair and a black outfit printed with the Heartless insignia stepped in. He almost shoved Vexen and Xigbar even as they stepped aside. His face was cold and hard, the opposite of Marluxia's, but it ended up having the same effect— _I own you._

Marluxia stepped forward, inspecting the replica. "Impressive. I didn't know you still had it in you, Vexen."

Xigbar smirked. "Yeah, even I thought all he had left in his head was creepily stalking Poppet."

Vexen gave Xigbar a quick evil eye, then turned back to Marluxia. "I'm sure this replica will serve our needs very well. Even Lord Xemnas will be pleased."

Marluxia turned away. "Lord Xemnas doesn't get to know until I say so."

Xigbar raised his eyebrows. "Why? Afraid he might notice something?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Marluxia waved the Riku Replica forward. "Come to me."

The Riku Replica stepped forward and looked up expectantly.

"Can you speak?"

The Riku Replica spoke in a tone that matched his face. "I do not speak unless spoken to. No point."

Marluxia smiled and looked at Vexen again. "Did all that disrespecting of elders finally get to you, Vexen?"

Vexen rolled his eyes. "I merely made him obedient."

"And I thank you for that." Marluxia turned back to the Riku Replica. "Obedient puppets make for happy masters, and happy masters make for successful plans."

Xigbar tapped Vexen on the shoulder. "Speaking of obedient puppets, I've got another little errand for you. It involves Witch."

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter seventeen!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Welcome to chapter seventeen! This one is longer than usual, partially because I have to break thirty thousand as soon as possible (trust me, the 20s to 30s is hell because you can't see the beginning anymore, but you can't see the end either), and partially because I decided to get really weird near the end of this chapter. You'll see what I mean. Intrigued? Then read on, my friend…**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XVII**

 **Watching the Endgame**

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Under normal circumstances, Zexion wouldn't let Vexen anywhere near a sleeping Xion, but with Lexaeus sitting between them, he figured it was safe enough. He couldn't even touch Namine, given how she was sitting in the corner, playing with one of Lexaeus' puzzles. This meeting situation may not have been ideal, but at this point, 'ideal' felt more like 'mythical'.

Zexion leaned forward slightly, giving everyone in the room a quick glance. "Did Marluxia receive the Riku Replica well?"

Vexen smiled. "Of course he did."

"Good. That should buy us some time. He most certainly wants me dead, that much is clear. But if we can forestall that a little longer, we may come out on top."

Lexaeus looked at Namine. "It may be you he wants, but it's her he needs. She is the one you should thank for buying you time."

Zexion closed his eyes. "That is why we must protect her at all costs."

Vexen looked pensive, as if considering whether it would benefit him to divulge certain information. After a quick glance at Lexaeus, he apparently decided that it would. "I have been, ahem, personally instructed to make a replica of Namine."

Zexion sighed. "Of course. If I was in his position, I'd do the same thing. With a replica of Namine, the real one will be worthless as a bargaining chip."

Namine looked up. "Are you guys talking about me?"

Zexion turned. "In fact, we are. Can you come up here?"

Namine bit her lip. "I don't want to mess anything up…"

"I doubt there will be any harm in you listening to a conversation about you."

Namine walked up nervously, sitting between Zexion and Lexaeus. "Why do they want to make a repel…ripel…"

"Replica. That's a copy of you, if you're wondering."

Namine nodded. "Yeah, why do they want to make a replica of me?"

"To make sure that we can't use you to help Xion."

Namine thought about this. "…Why don't they want me to help Xion?"

"Because it wouldn't be convenient for them and their little plan. The fact is that they need you, and we have you, and if they can get you in any way other than complying to our demands, they will."

"They would just kill me, then?"

"Possibly. They'd certainly kill everyone else in this room, including Xion."

"…So what do we do?"

Zexion leaned back. "Stall as long as we can. Saix appears to have some sort of plan, and he should be able to help us. Plus, we already have Roxas and Axel working toward the same goal. If we do this right, it should be pretty simple."

Lexaeus scratched his chin. "What about Xigbar?"

Zexion sighed. "Well, if we can get him on our side, he might be our best shot. If we can't get him on our side, then he's our biggest threat…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

Marluxia never let his façade of politeness and chivalry waver, no matter how complicated things got. Not even when Zexion and his gang decided Namine was their jurisdiction just because she was in the basement. Not even when an angry blond who hated his guts was sent upstairs to his level.

And _certainly_ not when Saix came along, saying he was undergoing a 'surprise inspection'. Not even then.

So of course he kept on smiling like he was supposed to, acting as though Saix were a welcome guest and not a nosy intruder. "I'm sure you'll find that everything is in order, my friend."

Saix narrowed his eyes at Marluxia. "If everything were in order, Xion would not have had the memories that she now has—memories that came from spillover from _your_ plan, I might add."

Marluxia snorted. "I'm doing what Lord Xemnas wants. Eliminating her. Is that not exactly what 'in order' means?"

Saix kept giving Marluxia his stare. "He suggested that she be eliminated in a very specific way. Rejoining Sora. In this way, Sora gains power, and thus so do we when we bring him into our fold and use him."

Marluxia laughed. "Oh, come on now. Everyone in the Organization, including you, knows that that will work about as well as Vexen's wild inventions. By driving Xion insane, I'm doing us all a favor. She is eliminated as the now-unneeded puppet she is, while still collecting hearts for us."

Saix crossed his arms. "So your plan is to release her into the wild and let her collect hearts on her own?"

"Yes. And I think it's a plan our Lord Xemnas can get behind."

"If you do that, she will come for revenge and the result will be only disaster and ruin."

"Disaster and ruin, disaster and ruin…those are your two favorite words, aren't they? I suppose you were wonderful at parties when you were a Somebody."

Saix stood up a little straighter, making himself appear slightly taller than Marluxia. "If we're going to be talking about our times as Somebodies, then don't think I don't know the escapades you pulled off when you were a Somebody."

Marluxia closed his eyes, still smiling. "Why do you choose to bring up these events?"

"If you want to play mind games, Marluxia, then I can certainly play."

Marluxia shook his head. "Games…Luxord would love this place. Games seem to be a common theme." He stepped forward, somehow still emanating superiority despite being slightly shorter than Saix. "Because here's the thing. It's all a big game, Saix. Xion, Sora, Kingdom Hearts…everything this Organization seeks and prizes and stands for…it's all a big game. We've been playing it since the Organization started, and we will continue to play it until it ends. And I get the feeling that we are watching the endgame as we speak."

Saix raised his eyebrow. "Now what in the worlds do you mean by that?"

"If I let you know that, I wouldn't be playing the game very well, now would I?" Marluxia turned and stared at the door. "There's this thing that happens when multiple very strong forces all have something the others want, and they can all remove each other from play. It is called mutually assured destruction. And it can either drag the game on forever…or end it in a blaze of light and glory. I think the latter is about to happen. Where will you be when that time comes, Saix?"

Saix shook his head. "I'm sure that speech looked very intimidating on paper. But I think that you are wrong. The Organization will pull through with whatever it faces, even if it does lose some things in the process. And I also believe you are a little overconfident."

Marluxia grinned. "Overconfident? I'm merely stating fact. Don't try to tell me that you really think that the Organization is a stable entity as of right now. Ten of our members are here, and most of them want to kill each other. Are you planning on being the right hand man of Organization V? Because that might be what ends up happening."

"That would imply your own elimination."

"Ah, but we never said who the fifth one was, now did we?"

There was a slow clapping sound coming from behind the two Nobodies. They turned to see Xigbar's stupid smirk. "Marluxia, I approve. Your trolling game is truly in top shape."

Saix turned. "What could you possibly want?"

"To watch you two hurl insults at each other."

"We were hardly throwing insults."

Xigbar shrugged. "It was still entertaining. And really, the more fighting you guys do, the happier I get. To a certain extent and definition of happiness, of course."

Saix cocked his head. "So you feed off conflict? Because there is no one in the worlds who likes those kinds of people except the people themselves."

Xigbar shook his head, laughing. "Oh, I'm sure I'd be able to find someone if I went out there. Maybe I will. Who knows."

"You're acting very suspicious right now, Xigbar."

Xigbar chuckled under his breath and walked out of the room. "But here's my secret, Boss. Here's why no one can ever figure me out. It's because I'm _always_ acting very suspicious!"

0=0=0=0=0=0

" _How long have I been asleep? Did I fall asleep? The clouds are gone…"_

" _Oh, I hope I'm about to wake up and be home…I want to be home…"_

 _Xion, is that you?_

"… _Oh, no, Roxas, I'm so sorry, I'll try to get out of your head, I'll—"_

 _Shhh, just be quiet now. It's okay. Zexion will probably wake you up in a second anyway._

" _Oh, no…I just want this stupid mess to end…"_

 _So do I. It'll be okay, I promise. We have a plan now._

" _If you say so…"_

 _I love you, Xion._

" _I love you, too…"_

0=0=0=0=0=0

Zexion looked up from his book again to see that Xion was clawing at the air, as if trying to grab something. He threw the book aside and ran over to the bed, tapping her cheek gently but firmly. "Xion? Xion, are you okay?"

"Mmhummuuza…" was all that came out of Xion's mouth.

Zexion brought her arms down. "Xion, can you speak?"

Xion turned her head toward Zexion. "Nuh-uh, not well, not too well…"

"That's okay, Xion. I'm starting to understand you."

"Why you keep callin' me Xion…"

Now Zexion was really worried. "Because that's your name."

"No, that's not my name…that's Xion's name, it's not my name…"

Well, that was a good way to set off lots and lots of alarm bells in Zexion's head. Still, he kept his cool. Panic would only make things worse, and it wouldn't change the situation at all, so there wasn't any point. "If Xion isn't your name, then tell me what your name is."

Her response was immediate, as if this were the name she had been called her entire life. "Roxas."

Zexion took a moment to take a deep breath and resign himself to yet another complication in the huge web of complications that was known as Castle Oblivion.

0=0=0=0=0=0

Axel didn't like sitting around and twiddling his thumbs. But if he had to, he figured he might as well do it while guarding one of the two children under his fatherly jurisdiction. 'Guarding' in particular because it was obvious that Xemnas and Marluxia wanted Roxas gone just as much as they wanted Xion gone. And as they were under his fatherly jurisdiction, his fatherly duty was to protect them from harm.

Fatherly. Father. Axel had yet to truly accept those words as descriptions of himself even now.

He noticed that Roxas was opening his eyes and smiled at him. "Hey, sleepyhead. I missed you."

Roxas rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head. "Are we home yet…?"

Axel sighed. "I'm afraid not. But I'm going to get us all home soon, okay?"

Roxas threw the pillow away and pushed himself into a sitting position. "But wait….Zexion said I would be home when I woke up…"

Axel blinked. "Uh…no, he hasn't been up here. He told Xion that, remember?"

Roxas shook his head. "But I'm Xion…"

Axel scooted forward a little. "Rox…if this is some kind of prank, it isn't funny…"

Roxas—or whoever—whipped around. "I'm Xion! Why are you calling me Roxas? What's going on?"

Axel looked over his face. Slightly open mouth, check. Huge, bulging eyes, check. Fists clenching and unclenching over and over really fast, check. Shaky breaths and body, check. But what really sealed the deal was that there were tears streaking down the face, because Roxas did not cry easily…but Xion most definitely did.

Axel took a long, deep breath. "Okay, something went really wrong, and things are going to be very weird for a bit…"

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **You see, week three is the time of plot epiphanies and curveballs. I've decided that a trope that interests me as a reader will not only keep me going a lot longer as a writer, but it will also keep other readers interested because someone invested is writing it. Plus, I really, really like body swaps and I've been looking for an excuse to write a RokuShi body swap for a long time, and lo and behold, the best excuse ever** _ **finally**_ **comes to my door with a sign that says 'I work for words'. Do you** _ **really**_ **think I won't take that opportunity? :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and be sure to tune in for chapter eighteen, with lots of body swap fun!**


	18. Chapter 18

**And now, chapter eighteen, which FINALLY gets me to thirty thousand words and beyond! It all gets much easier from here. Now, I am pretty proud of this chapter, so I suggest that you sit back and enjoy…**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XVIII**

 **Laughing When It's Hard**

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There were lots of accurate ways to describe Roxas' brain right now. Traffic jam. Spinning out of control. Confusion and delay. But perhaps the best description of all was a very simple four-letter word that he repeated after literally every sentence that came out of Zexion's mouth.

"What."

Zexion sighed and rubbed his face. "Look, Roxas. This doesn't make sense. At all. But you are currently residing in Xion's body, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the merging thing. Now, I'm sure we can get all of this sorted out, but you have to work with me. Do you understand?"

Roxas sighed, giving up the idea that this was actually some messed-up dream. "Yes."

"Good. Now, if you are in Xion's body, it stands to reason that she is now in your body."

Roxas facepalmed. "Oh, great, she's probably scared out of her mind right now…"

Zexion nodded. "That's why I'm going to take you upstairs. Hopefully, meeting should return you to your rightful bodies."

Roxas grabbed Zexion's arm. "No, wait! What if meeting just makes us merge all the way?"

Zexion sighed. "Okay, that's a good point. Thank you for catching me there. It looks like we'll have to wait it out, then. The last thing we want to do right now is take unnecessary risks."

Roxas took a small hand mirror off the desk and looked at 'his' face. At the sight of Xion's face matching his every expression in the mirror, he felt oddly repulsed, a sense of disconnection and distress and simple _wrong_ filling his mind. "So how long am I going to be, well, stuck here?"

Zexion leaned back and stroked his chin. "Hopefully not long. I'll make sure no matter what that it isn't permanent."

Roxas ran his hands through his hair, suddenly wishing that Xion's hair was spiky like his own. It made frustrated hair ruffling much more satisfying. "So, what do I do until then?"

"Well, mostly, I need you to pretend to be Xion."

Roxas snorted. "That won't be too hard. I kind of want to lay in bed and watch a happy illusion."

Zexion shook his head. "If only it were that simple. But I think we can get Marluxia to believe that Xion is awake and fully sane, and that there is no more use in trying to drive her mad."

Roxas cringed. "Won't they try to kill her because she's no more use or whatever? Because if they kill her, then they kill me because I'm _in her body."_

"Well, the alternative is to act as much like a crazy lunatic as possible to convince Marluxia that all systems are go."

"Won't he tell Xemnas?"

"And mess up his own plans for Xion? I think not."

Roxas slumped down on the bed. "And suddenly saying I'm actually Roxas and I don't know why I'm in this body isn't crazy enough?"

Zexion shrugged. "That might reveal the merge in progress, which Marluxia might take advantage of. Sorry."

Roxas let out a puff of air. "Ugh…I feel a little sick…"

"Being in a body you aren't used to is probably disturbing. Will you be okay?"

Roxas nodded. "As long as Xion is okay."

Zexion smiled slightly. "That's what I like to hear."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Xion paced back and forth, holding a head that wasn't hers and ruffling hair that wasn't hers. That was what Xion really couldn't get over— _none of this was hers._ She felt as though she had been cast adrift, lost in the weirdness and craziness that was her stupid life.

She turned to Axel again. "How do we fix this?"

Axel sighed. "I barely know what happened, okay? If I knew how to fix it, I would. But I promise that I will figure out how to fix it."

Xion sat down on the mattress, wondering a little how Roxas managed to bear sleeping on this stiff thing. "Why is my life so _crazy_ now…?"

Axel sat down next to her and pulled her close. "Rox…I mean, Xi…I know things are really messed up right now. But we can do this."

Xion pulled her legs up. "No…no we can't…"

"Yes we can. I'm going to make sure of that."

Xion stamped her foot. "We _can't,_ Axel! Everything is a complete mess. Everything I've ever known is falling apart in front of my eyes, and everyone is telling me to be all calm and quiet about it. Everyone keeps telling me that it's all going to be all right. Well, guess what? I'm not buying that stupid lie any longer! I am _in Roxas' body._ How is that going to turn out okay? I can't take this anymore! I hate it! I hate my life!"

Axel gave her a tight squeeze. "Things are hard right now. And I'm not going to deny that. But you can't lose hope."

Xion shut her eyes. "Hope? We're Nobodies, Axel. We can't have hope because we don't have hearts."

Axel brushed her face. "You're crying. If you can cry, if you can hate your life, then you can feel. And if you can feel, you can have hope."

Xion wiped her own face, gently brushing Axel's hand away. "Well, I guess _I_ can't have hope. Zexion's illusion was the happiest I've felt since we got here, and it wasn't even real. Didn't even know I could still be happy…"

After a moment's thought, Axel gave Xion a 'wait here' gesture and ran out of the room. He came back about fifteen seconds later with a box of sea-salt ice cream. He sat back down on the bed, opened the box and handed a bar to Xion.

Xion looked at the bar, as if considering. Then she took it and took a bite. As memories of the clocktower flooded her mind, she almost started crying again. But then she started laughing, a small but steady giggle that managed to make her smile.

Axel smiled at her. "What's so funny?"

Xion kept laughing. "Just…just everything. I'm in Roxas' body, sitting on a bare mattress, eating ice cream, laughing and crying at the same time. It's all ridiculous, Axel. It's all so ridiculous. I'm laughing at how ridiculous everything is…"

Axel snorted. "Xion, you just learned a skill that will serve you really well for your whole life."

"I knew how to laugh."

"But now you know how to laugh when it's hard."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Namine tossed her puzzle on the table and let her head follow suit. She felt a little pain on impact, but at this point, she really couldn't care less.

Lexaeus looked up at her. "Too hard?"

Namine moaned. "Can't concentrate."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm really worried about Roxas and Xion."

Lexaeus walked over and held her on the shoulder. "Zexion will help them."

"But I want to help them! I haven't done anything except hurt Xion…"

"You are helping them."

"No I'm not…I'm just sitting here doing nothing…"

Lexaeus thought about this. "…You are their friends, correct?"

Namine sat up. "Yes, of course, that's why—"

"Then that's helping them."

Namine bit her lip. "You mean…I'm helping them just by being their friend? But how?"

"Because then they know that there's someone who's worried for them. Someone who cares whether they're okay. That's the best thing you can do right now. Be there for them."

After a moment's thought, Namine smiled. "Be there for them…I can do that."

She heard a cocky voice entering the room. "So you're going to be their best friends forever, huh?"

Before Namine could say anything, Lexaeus squeezed her shoulder a little tighter. He stared Xigbar down. "You are not welcome in this room."

Xigbar laughed. "What makes you think you can tell me where I am and am not welcome in this castle? I do kind of live here right now. Plus, I'm higher rank than you."

Lexaeus narrowed his eyes. "We have her and you don't. I thought you already realized this."

"Oh, that's right!" Xigbar summoned one of his arrowguns and pointed it at Lexaeus' head. "Too bad for you, I don't really care…"

Lexaeus summoned his axe sword, lifting it into a defensive position that almost protected Namine more than himself. "I would be very careful about what you do next."

"Careful? You're telling _me_ to be careful? Big Guy, it's _you_ who needs to be careful here." He leveled the gun a little closer to Namine. "Because as little as I care about your plans, I care about Marluxia's even less."

"You'd shoot a small girl to further your own agenda?"

Xigbar grinned. "Did you forget? We're Nobodies. We can't feel guilt. No guilt, no morality, no rules."

"What are you trying to accomplish? Killing Namine makes both sides lose."

"You just answered your own question, buddy. Lord Xemnas clearly wants the herd thinned a little bit. I'm doing all the work for him. When I'm done, only the strong ones will be left." He put his finger on the trigger. "Okay, now that I've gone on a monologue about my evil plan, now I get to shoot stuff. Time to say bye-bye to your playmates, Witch…"

Namine covered her face and shut her eyes. She found herself wondering what it would feel like. Would it hurt, or would she just vanish? Maybe nothing would happen somehow. Maybe she wouldn't notice whether it had happened. Would someone tell her?

Then she realized that she had time to think about these things. After a few more seconds of hesitation, she looked up. Xigbar had turned around, and was now pointing _both_ of his arrowguns at someone else, holding two Keyblades and staring at him with a gaze that could probably kill on its own.

"Xion!"

The girl spoke in a more masculine tone than usual. "Call me Roxas."

Xigbar kept up his stupid smile. "Oh, it _is_ working. I was wondering when it would kick in. Now, the question is, are you Poppet or Tiger…?"

Zexion burst in the room, then stood back when he saw the standoff. "…Did you literally just do the exact thing I told you not to do _five minutes ago?"_

Roxas—Namine decided to believe him, even though it didn't make any sense to her—gritted his teeth. "Five minutes ago, Xigbar wasn't about to kill one of my friends."

Xigbar pointed one of the arrowguns back at Namine. "I can still blast her."

"But then I would stab you, and you'd be out, too."

"Smart. That's why I'm aiming at both of you."

Zexion stepped forward. "If he fails to kill you, then I will not."

Lexaeus nodded. "You are outnumbered, Xigbar. If you strike, one of us will strike back much harder, if not all of us."

Xigbar chuckled. "I've got to admit, the way things are now, you've beaten me to the punch. That's why I brought a little help."

Zexion turned to look outside the room. Vexen entered, followed by a silver-haired boy with a black outfit and an intimidating-looking sword. Was that the replica they had been talking about?

Xigbar smiled. "He did it for the low, low price of not getting shot in the face."

Zexion summoned his lexicon and gave Vexen a cold stare. "You coward."

Vexen summoned his shield. "It is not cowardice, my friend. It is prudence." He turned to the boy. "Riku, watch the large man with the giant sword."

Riku—well, the Riku Replica—went over to Lexaeus and pointed the sword at his chest. "This will be easy."

Zexion sighed. "Of course, you understand that the moment someone makes a move, we'll all destroy each other."

Xigbar laughed. "Now _this_ is my kind of party."

Namine decided that the best thing to do right now would be to make herself as small of a target as possible and avoid any sudden movements…

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **Some mild fluff followed by the start of a Mexican standoff. Now, these are the kind of ideas that TV Tropes gives me. Don't let the idea of using 'tropes' scare you—TV Tropes can be one of the most useful resources any writer can have. Thank you, Tropers! :D**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter nineteen, where we see how our lovely cliffhanger plays out…**


	19. Chapter 19

**Warning: High drama chapter incoming. Part of what I like about the 30k-40k gap is the fact that things finally heat up and people start blasting each other. :) Enjoy!**

0=0=0=0=0=0

 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XIX**

 **All The Kings Men**

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Axel had just spent a considerable amount of time coaching Xion to act like Roxas, even helping her adjust her voice to sound less feminine. So when he finally brought her out of the room, he thought he was ready to face Marluxia suddenly appearing out of nowhere and grilling them.

Well, he wasn't. At all.

Marluxia nearly bumped into the two of them as they walked down the hallway. After standing silently for a second, he chuckled. "This hallway is certainly big enough for us to share. Why are you two in such a rush? You have no responsibilities to attend to at the moment."

Xion scratched the back of her neck, cringing for just a second at the feeling it gave her. "Well, uh, aren't we allowed to leave our rooms and all? I mean…uh…"

Axel stepped forward. "Roxas has a point. We are allowed to leave our rooms once in a while, aren't we now, Marluxia?"

Marluxia smiled. "Maybe channel that attitude toward getting Sora in our grasp." He looked at Xion and grinned. "And how are you doing today…Xion?"

Xion almost said something, but covered it up with a totally unexpected and unplanned coughing fit. "Um, sorry…why did you call me Xion?"

"Oh, please. Don't try to hide. You and your friend are both about as subtle as Lexaeus' sword hitting me in the face."

Axel gave Marluxia a shove. "Don't you have your own things to attend to?"

Marluxia chuckled, barely budging an inch. "Axel, I know that Castle Oblivion and people made of memories don't mix. Don't think I can't see the person supposed to be Roxas walking strangely and looking down at the floor and put two and two together."

Axel got right up against him. "I said, _don't you have your own things to attend to?"_

Marluxia snorted. "Well, you aren't wrong. I'm on my way to find out where Xigbar is. Maybe you two should come along."

Xion made a rather obvious throat-clearing noise. "Uh, uh, no, no, that won't be necessary, you can get along just fine without us, I'm sure…"

Marluxia cocked his head. "Why the cold feet, hmm? What do you have to attend to that you're in such a hurry over?"

Xion scratched her neck again. "Um, we were just—"

Axel shoved Marluxia again, this time hard enough to actually make him step back. "When will you get the hint to mind your own stupid business?"

Marluxia's smile finally vanished. "In my opinion, you two could use a lesson in humility."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Marluxia snapped his fingers. Someone grabbed Xion's mouth from behind, and she screamed. Axel whipped around and summoned his chakrams, but Larxene had a knife at Xion's throat.

Marluxia grinned. "It is supposed to mean that you're coming with us, like it or not."

Axel gave Marluxia the evil eye. "What's even the point of all this?"

"Haven't you guessed? It's to see what happens when you take two Nobodies and their source and shove them together. Call it a science experiment, if you will."

"I thought you wanted to keep them alive!"

Marluxia laughed. "I did, until I realized I could get an _even better_ Keybearer if they merged together. Now be quiet. Time to head to the basement."

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Zexion took a deep breath. "You know, maybe it would be best if we all just put down our weapons and talked this out."

Xigbar snorted. "And let you guys get the drop on me? No way."

"So we just stand here until we either let you kill Namine or we all kill each other. Yes, that sounds very fair."

"Hey, it's not my job to make things fair. If you want fair, you need to talk to Scarface."

A familiar deep voice spoke from just behind Vexen. "You rang?"

Xigbar turned to Saix, who was now staring at the scene with a look of resignation. "Well, speak of the devil. Did you come to join our little party?"

"Not originally. But now I don't have a choice, do I?" Saix drew his claymore and pointed it at Vexen. "I have always wanted to threaten you with physical violence, Number IV, but all of the times I actually had a reason to do so, that trio you hate so much stole the chance."

Xigbar grinned. "Now we're talking! Now that you have a slight numerical advantage over me, why don't we get a nice little fight started?"

Roxas gritted his teeth. "You just want us to kill each other for your stupid plan!"

"You finally caught on, huh? Took you long enough. And don't even think of just throwing away your weapons as some act of defiance, because my team isn't that stupid. Face it, the only what out of this is for someone to make the first move."

Saix narrowed his eyes. "You were the true traitor all along, weren't you?"

"Traitor? As if. Really, I'm the only one who's actually following the plan exactly the way Xemnas wanted me to. You guys are the ones trying to do everything you can to avoid the plan."

"He wanted Roxas and Xion gone. Not the entire Organization."

Xigbar laughed. "Scarface, I had no idea you were this stupid and oblivious. You don't stuff nine people into a far-off castle without any chaperones or supervision and expect them not to throw a party and trash the whole place. This whole castle is an arena full of bloodthirsty gladiators, my friend. We're not leaving this place until we see who's the strongest."

"Your plan to split the Organization can only end in ruin for all of us."

"I know! That's the fun part!"

Another voice sounded from the doorway, this one light and luscious. "Well, you have quite an interesting situation on your hands, don't you now?"

Xigbar looked up at Marluxia, Larxene, Axel and Xion as they slowly approached behind Zexion. Xion was being pulled by her hair, which was actually easier to do with Roxas' hair than her own. Xigbar chuckled again. "Ah, yes, now we have all the kings men. Why don't we have a little scuffle already?"

Axel narrowed his eyes. "If you want a fight between ten Organization members, you better be man enough to start it yourself."

"You know what? Good idea."

Xigbar swung one of his arrowguns away from Namine, aimed at Larxene, and fired. The bolt didn't hit her, but she was forced to dodge out of the way, setting Xion free. Roxas stabbed at Xigbar with both of his Keyblades, and he warped out of the way, appearing behind Larxene just as she stood up.

He did not miss this time. And just as he had predicted, it made all hell break loose.

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter twenty, where we finally get the nice big fight scene I know you've all been waiting for this entire story!**


	20. Chapter 20

**This entire chapter is nothing but a fight scene. I thought you should know this in advance. :P I'm finally catching up on my word count again, and it feels like I'm really making progress with the plot. I'll hit fifty thousand words within the week, I know it. I'd like to thank you guys for your support. All of my fans are absolutely amazing, and I'm glad that you read my stories. :) Enjoy chapter twenty!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XX**

 **The Beginning of the End**

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In the entire history of Organization XIII up until the point at which Xigbar fired the second shot, no member had ever killed another member. Somehow, through every fight and brutal mutilation and crazy scheme, the utterly disorganized group had managed to avoid simply wiping each other out. Perhaps this had been for the exact reason that the standoff lasted for so long. Each member had the capacity to destroy all the other members, but in doing so would bring their wrath upon themselves. Many had been tempted, but none had gone through with it.

But now, as Larxene fell to the ground screaming, all bets were off. There was this interesting thing about the Organization: they all did the same thing every day. And all of those Same Thing Every Days had built up into a hot mess of rivalries, tensions and all-around high levels of mutual hatred. Quite a feat for people with no hearts, really.

And all of that came spilling out all at once like a soda can exploding in the freezer.

Before Larxene even hit the ground, Marluxia and Axel were both already charging at him, weapons drawn. He warped out of the way again and started firing at both of them, forcing them to dodge away. Then he started firing on Xion, who clumsily ducked around the doorway and took cover.

She tried to summon her Keyblade, but realized that she couldn't even feel the usual tingling sensation in her hands. She clenched and unclenched her fist as panic rose in her fast. "No…no, no no…no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped around. Roxas—in her body, a very strange experience—was handing her back Darklight. "It's okay. We'll do this together."

Xion took the Keyblade and nodded. "Okay. Together."

They got up and looked around the room. Lexaeus and the Riku Replica were now battling it out, and Riku seemed to be winning. He jabbed at Lexaeus repeatedly, forcing him back up against a wall. Just before he could do a stab through the chest, Xion yelled at him. "Hey!"

The Riku Replica turned, and got a thrown Darklight to the face. He fell backwards, and before he could get up again, Lexaeus had already knocked him into a wall with his axe sword. Roxas ran over and lunged, ready to stab him, but he rolled out of the way just in time and swung at Roxas' legs. Roxas hit the floor hard, and his whole world started spinning.

Xion ran at Riku, picked up her Keyblade and started swinging at him, but he just parried her blows and kicked her aside. When he turned to Lexaeus again, though, the much larger man picked him up by the head and threw him into a wall. He was out cold.

Lexaeus pulled Roxas and Xion up. "Be more careful."

Xion slung her Keyblade over her shoulder. "I was being careful."

"Wildly swinging at someone like they are a housefly is not being careful."

Xion got back into combat position. "Whatever. Let's just keep fighting.

Xigbar was still firing, blasting away at Marluxia as he kept dodging out of the way. Every time he managed to get close, Xigbar would warp away and keep firing from a different position. "Face it, Roseboy," he called. "You can't touch me!"

Marluxia smiled. "Don't worry. I just haven't figured out how yet."

Xigbar grinned and fired again, but instead of dodging, this time Marluxia spun his scythe, using it as a shield against the bolts. They actually bounced back at Xigbar, forcing him to warp away again. He warped right behind Marluxia, who used this opportunity to swing his scythe around at the man. Xigbar didn't have time to react, and hit the floor.

Marluxia raised his scythe. "I knew the truth all along, you know."

Xigbar aimed his arrowgun again. "Of course you did. It's not going to do you any good now!"

Before either of the men could make a move, Vexen came flying into Marluxia, knocking him to the ground and making Xigbar miss his shot. Roxas came running after Vexen, Oathkeeper raised high over his head.

He dropped down and pinned both of them to the ground, raising his Keyblade. "This is for Xion!"

Marluxia got his arm out of the pin and grabbed Roxas' throat. "And this is for getting in my way."

Roxas dropped the Keyblade and tried to push Marluxia's hand off of him, but he was holding too tight. Vexen pulled himself out of the now-weak pin and summoned his shield again. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if trying to figure out who he wanted to kill more.

But before he could decide what to do, someone came out of nowhere, stuck a weapon in his back and kicked Marluxia's head to get Roxas free. Vexen grabbed his chest and turned around, already starting to collapse.

Axel was now pulling Roxas up. He looked Vexen in the eyes. "I guess this rivalry is over, then. Wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm really not."

Vexen gritted his teeth. "I…I hate you…I hate all three of you!"

"Too bad."

Vexen started to disappear. "Your so-called…friendship…is utterly doomed…"

Axel turned away, already entering combat stance again. "So your last words form an opinion I don't care about. I thought you'd do better."

" _NO!"_

Finally, Vexen faded into oblivion, leaving behind no trace of his existence.

Xigbar appeared in front of Axel, just far away enough to avoid another stab. "That's what I'm talking about! I didn't know whether you had it in you, Flamesilocks, but thank Kingdom Hearts that you do."

Axel spun his chakrams. "Shut your mouth. You're outnumbered now."

"Outnumbered? Maybe. But you still have Roseboy to worry about, don't you?"

Marluxia appeared behind Xigbar, pointing his scythe at him. "You have no idea how much I hate it when you call me that."

Xigbar laughed. "Okay, then. Have fun, kids. Feel free to trash the house."

Xigbar vanished just as Marluxia struck. At first, he thought he had killed him, but then he realized that he had just warped away. _Again._

Marluxia turned to the people who were now surrounding him and held his hands in the air. "If we make a truce, I will lead you to Xigbar and we can kill him."

Roxas made a flourish with his Keyblade. "After everything you've pulled? No way!"

Zexion held Roxas' shoulder and stared Marluxia down. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"The fact that the six of you can easily kill me if I get out of line."

Namine poked her head out from under the table. She had been hiding there this whole time. "…Is it over?"

Saix walked over to Namine and pulled her up. "Yes. It is."

Namine looked around. "…Where are Vexen and Larxene?"

Saix put his hands in his pockets and looked away. "They…they are not here anymore."

"Then where did they go?"

"They were killed. When a Nobody is killed, they fade into nothing. And that's exactly what Vexen and Larxene did."

Namine shuddered. "…Fade into nothing?"

"Yes."

Xion came over and hugged Namine. "It's okay. It's safe now."

Namine hugged back. "Don't fade into nothing…"

"I won't. I promise."

"Thank you, Roxas…"

Xion snorted. "Xion. It's kind of a long story."

Saix raised his eyebrows. "Mind telling that story?"

"…Actually, I'm still not sure what happened…"

Zexion sighed. "The merge is entering its last phase. Getting them out of here would be too little, too late at this point."

Axel walked over. "So what can we do?"

Zexion thought about it. "We might be able to find a way to reverse it in the original files on the Replica Program."

Saix opened a dark corridor. "Well then, it's off to the thirteenth floor. Lead the way."

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 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter twenty-one, where the climax finally begins its approach…**


	21. Chapter 21

**This chapter FINALLY brings me up to 35k, a huge milestone. Now the words needed to get to 50,000 can be whittled down quickly, as long as I work hard. Therefore, I am quite proud of this chapter. :) Go on, read it already! There's more fighting in it…**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter XXI**

 **Running Around in Circles**

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" _Roxas! You finally made it up here. Good boy."_

" _Shut up! Where's Xion and Namine and the real Roxas?"_

" _Trust me, they aren't here anymore. The guy who welcomed you took them down to the basement. Riku, too. Better hurry if you want to help them out…"_

" _WHAT?!"_

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After everything that had transpired since Roxas woke up, and since he had entered this stupid castle, the fact that he was in Xion's body, on the thirteenth floor, inside the main file room (you know, that one room with the _AUTHORIZED MEMBERS ONLY_ sign on it), with Xion in his body not too far away, watching Axel pin Marluxia to a wall wasn't really as jarring as it should have been. Of course, after you spend a certain amount of time in Organization XIII, nothing really surprises you.

Axel had both of his chakrams summoned. "What happened to those files, Marluxia? Where did they go? What did you do with them?"

Marluxia laughed. "I didn't do anything with them. You'll want to talk to Xigbar. Once we catch him, of course."

Axel was about to stab him with one of the chakrams, but Saix grabbed his arm. "We need him," he said slowly. "Unfortunately."

Axel shoved Marluxia away and whipped around. "He's not going to help us at all! He's just waiting for the right opportunity to kill us all!"

"I'll make sure he never gets one."

Marluxia shook his head, still smiling. "Honestly, Axel, I need you."

Axel scowled. "What do you need _me_ for?"

"Not just you. _All_ of you."

Saix gave him a cold stare. "If what you need us for is betraying the Organization, then you'll find that we aren't on board with your plan."

Marluxia shook his head. "Good thing that isn't it, then. But I can't tell you what it actually is yet."

Roxas finally got tired of waiting and butted in. "Look, what do we do now? Because once the weirdness and novelty wears off, being in your best friend's body is just kind of stupid and annoying."

Axel rubbed his eyes. "We're working on it. You know, I never thought I would fantasize about going home and drinking the coffee, but what do you know, I am. Go figure."

Zexion scratched his chin. "Come to think of it, Marluxia is probably right. If Xigbar wants to get rid of the Keybearers, then obviously he would hide the files. The question is, where are they now…"

A smug voice came in from behind. "Not here, you can confirm that."

Lexaeus, being the closest to the door, summoned his axe sword and took a swing at Xigbar, but as usual he just warped out of the way. He reappeared on a balcony nearby, overlooking the room. "I've got to hand it to you guys. You are entertaining."

Xion yelled up at him. "Why are you making us go in circles like this?"

"Because it's fun." Xigbar locked his two arrowguns together, making a sniper rifle. "Now, obviously that first fight only got rid of two guys. Not enough. So let's see how you dance."

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Namine had elected to stay behind in Lexaeus' room. It was a little lonely, but she felt much safer this way. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about what Saix had said about Nobodies and fading into nothing. She couldn't even comprehend that, so it had to be pretty scary. No way was she going to risk it happening to her. Besides, Lexaeus was right. The best thing she could do for her friends at the moment was to stay put and stay calm. At least, she hoped so.

She heard some murmuring near the wall and went over. The Riku Replica was starting to get up. Unsure what to do, Namine tried holding his head down. "Um, stay asleep, stay sleepy, please…"

The Riku Replica gasped. "Namine?"

Namine stepped back. "How do you know my name?"

The Riku Replica pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Because I remember you…"

Namine rubbed her face and shook her head. "Look, this is a really long story…"

"Long story? What long story? I remember your name…I don't know how, but I know your name…"

Namine rubbed her hands together. "I, uh, actually don't know the whole story, I wasn't too involved…but you never knew me. Your memories are…kind of sort of false."

Riku drew in a breath. "…False?"

"Look, I know it's hard, but you have to believe me because things are a little crazy right now and—"

"No…that isn't possible…" The Riku Replica got up, and his eyes seemed to glow with the onset of a slowly rising anger. "Why do I have memories of you?"

Namine scratched the back of her neck and started to step back. "Well, there's this guy who put the memory _inside_ you, I think, but I'm the one who made it…don't hurt me, I'm sorry I gave you false memories, I really am, please don't hurt me…"

The Riku Replica drew in a breath, then let it out again. "I won't hurt you, okay? I like you. I want you to be safe."

Namine blinked. "You like me?"

"Yeah. I think…I think I'm your friend."

Namine smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay…what's your name? Like, what do you call yourself?"

The Riku Replica answered without hesitation. "Riku."

Namine sighed. "Well, there's this other Riku, and I don't want to get you two mixed up…sorry, don't be mad at me, um…can I call you, um…Repliku? Like, 'replica' and 'Riku' combined? It kind of sucks, but I can't think of anything better…"

The Riku Replica thought about this. "…All right, sure. Now, tell me where I can find this person who put these memories in me."

Namine bit her lip. "Um, well, I think he's kinda dead…but he worked for this guy called Zexion, who works for Marluxia. I think you've met them before…I'm sorry, I'm really bad at explaining things…"

Repliku nodded. "It's okay. And yes, I do know those names. Where can I find Marluxia?"

Namine tilted her head. "Uh, I think they're on the top floor. But why do you want Marluxia?"

"Because he stuffed a false memory into me, then threw me aside like I'm trash."

Namine scratched her neck again. "Yeah, that kind of is a good reason to want to get someone, isn't it…do I have to come with you?"

"Actually, yes."

"Oh, no…"

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Xigbar aimed at Roxas and fired. Roxas summoned his Keyblade and managed to block the shot just in time, deflecting it and sending it back. Xigbar dodged the shot and cringed a bit, though he was still smiling. "Ah, you clever little snake. Guess I'll have to be a little bit more direct."

Xigbar warped down right behind Roxas and took aim. Before he could fire, Xion came up from behind and swung at his legs, knocking him to the ground. He warped away before she could bring her foot down on him, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Xigbar appeared on the balcony again. "You guys are all kind of stupid. You left the files back at the basement."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Why would you just casually tell us where it is while you're trying to kill us?"

"Again, because it's fun. Want to use that info? Then keep on dodging, buddy!"

Xigbar took aim again, this time at Zexion. Another bolt came in, but Zexion opened his lexicon and used it as a shield, trapping the bolt in the strange world inside the book. Then, he snapped his fingers and created a new illusion. A seemingly infinite number of Zexions appeared, interspersed with an equally large number of Roxases, Xions, Axels and other members of the party.

Xigbar grinned. "That's the kind of thing I want to see. Maybe you are strong enough to make it through this. But I still have to try, don't I?"

He took his arrowguns and fired them in a wide arc, blasting several of the doubles. But there were still lots more, and though he had unlimited ammo, he was still distracted. Axel took the opportunity to use a dark corridor to get up to the balcony and give Xigbar a nice fist to the face.

Xigbar grabbed his nose and stumbled back. "Heh. Feels like old times, doesn't it, Flamesilocks? Only this time, there's no one here who's going to stop us from killing each other."

Axel lunged again, throwing frenzied punches. "Shut your mouth!"

Xigbar took a few hits, but managed to warp away to the other side of the balcony. He called. "What are you so afraid of, Lea? Losing your 'friends'? Or should I say 'children'? Because sometimes it seems more like children."

Axel summoned his chakrams and threw them. "I said _shut your mouth!"_

Xigbar warped again, just to the left so that the chakrams hit the wall next to him. "Face it. These are your last days as a daddy. You might as well make sure you enjoy them!"

Before Axel could retaliate, Xigbar warped away again. This time, he was gone.

Axel took a few deep breaths, then dark corridored back down to the center of the room. Zexion dispelled the illusion and ran over. "Are you hurt at all?"

Axel shook his head. "I'll be fine. But Xigbar…he's going down. Very soon."

Marluxia opened a dark corridor back down to the basement. "Why don't we go make sure of that, hmm?"

Roxas crossed his arms. "I still think it's a trap."

Zexion sighed. "I _know_ it's a trap. But we don't really have a choice, now do we?"

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 **You know, I just can't get over how I'm finally in the home stretch of this thing. This thing is going to be done in a mere something thousand, something and something something words. I'm finally getting my second wind. This is going to rock. :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter, with a special bonus surprise…**


	22. Thanks for the Memories (Bonus Chapter)

**Okay, this chapter I've got a nice surprise for you. Obviously, I can't do a Thanksgiving special on Sea-Salt Stories. So, I decided to make you guys a little bonus chapter that I can include in my word count. This is a little unconventional of me, but it should be fun. And no, I don't really care that Thanksgiving is an American holiday, and Axel, Roxas and Xion probably wouldn't celebrate it. :P I hope you enjoy!**

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 **The Longest Night**

 **Chapter 3.5**

 **Thanks for the Memories**

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"Axel, why are you going through the kitchen? It's not your day to cook, and dinner won't be for a few hours."

Axel pulled some sandwich supplies out of the cupboards and turned to Marluxia. "It's Thanksgiving. I've got to get the kids something."

Marluxia snorted. "When will you get the hint that Organization XIII doesn't celebrate any holidays?"

"It does when I'm showing my Keybearers the wonders of a full and joyous life."

Marluxia rolled his eyes, still smiling. "You disappoint me. Your sap levels are unacceptable for an assassin."

Axel turned back to the sandwich supplies, slapping some deli-cut turkey meat on three slices of bread. "And your _sass_ levels are unacceptable for anybody."

"Fair enough. Although you have plenty of sass in you, too."

"At least I balance it out with the sap."

With that, he took the now-completed turkey sandwiches, popped them in plastic bags, pulled a box of sea-salt ice cream out of the freezer, and opened a dark corridor down to the basement. It wasn't exactly the mighty feast of his childhood, but he figured that the turkey sandwiches (and Xion's vegetarian potato salad—she had an odd fondness for potatoes) brought enough of said feast to be mostly acceptable.

As he walked toward the door, he realized he had one too many turkey sandwiches. After a second, he decided that Namine might as well be a part of this, too. Of course, that probably meant adopting another small, cute child, but it wasn't like that wouldn't have happened at some point anyway. She had practically been attached to his leg on the way downstairs. It was probably best to get it over with, he decided.

He knocked on the door. "It's Axel. Anyone there?"

Roxas called back. "What do you want?"

Axel sighed. He had almost forgotten about how Roxas currently considered him Public Enemy Number One. But that wasn't going to stop him from having a nice Thanksgiving with his best friends. "I come bearing turkey sandwiches, potato salad and sea-salt ice cream. Does that help?"

There was some muttering behind the door for a second. Then, Xion came to the door and opened it. She had the smallest hint of a smile on her face. "Roxas has agreed to be cordial to you for one night for the sake of sandwiches and sea-salt ice cream."

Axel smiled slightly. "Ice cream heals all wounds."

Xion nodded. "It never hurts."

Namine looked up. "What's going on? Am I going back upstairs?"

Axel shook his head. "No. It's Thanksgiving. I want you kids to have a proper Thanksgiving meal, even if it is sandwich-based."

Roxas turned, looking not as hateful as usual and actually seemingly curious. "What's Thanksgiving?"

"Thanksgiving is a holiday. You give thanks for all the great things that are in your life, and then you stuff your face with food, collapse on the nearest soft piece of furniture and sleep until noon the next day."

Xion smiled a little more. "Eating _and_ sleeping? Okay, this is my kind of holiday."

"I never expected that to come out of your mouth."

"I eat and sleep when I'm feeling off, and I feel very off in this castle."

Axel sighed. "You feeling okay?"

Xion shrugged. "I'm okay right now. Having all of us in one place feels nice."

"Part of why I'm here, really." Axel passed sandwiches to Roxas and Namine and handed the potato salad to Xion. "First real food, then ice cream."

The four of them sat down on the bed. Xion sat in between Axel and Roxas, and Namine sat to the right of Axel. Xion looked up. "You say we give thanks?"

Axel snorted. "I guess you don't _have_ to. You can start eating if you want."

Xion smiled. "But I have things I'm thankful for." She pulled her three friends close. "I'm thankful for you guys, and I'm thankful that we're all in this room together eating, and I'm thankful for our friendship, and I'm thankful for all the time we spend together, and I'm thankful for all the memories we've made together. Especially the memories."

Axel nodded. "Those are good things to be thankful for."

Roxas smiled a little. "Who are we thanking for all of this, anyway?"

Axel grinned. "That, my Keybearer, is a question I will answer once we're home and I've had a _lot_ of coffee and at least two boxes of ice cream."

Xion laughed. "I'll thank you, then. Axel, thanks for the memories. All of them."

Axel patted Xion on the head. "You're welcome, you dork. Now eat, because the main focus of this holiday is stuffing your face full of food."

As you can probably guess, even naïve Nobody teenagers who have been alive for less than a year do not need to be told to stuff their faces full of food. They just do it. And Roxas, Xion and Namine just did it, popping their respective items of food into their stomachs with a level of efficiency rivaling Demyx in the window of time between grocery day and the declaration of 'please stop'.

After they had completed the course in no time flat, Axel opened the ice cream box and handed a bar to each of the three children. "Sea-salt ice cream," he said to Namine as he handed over the bar. "It's better than it sounds. Go on, try it."

After a moment of hesitation, Namine took a small bite out of the ice cream bar. She savored it for a bit, then swallowed. "It's…it's salty, but sweet at the same time…"

Axel laughed. "That's exactly what Roxas and Xion said the first time they tried it. It never gets old."

Xion smiled at her. "It's really good, right? It's our favorite."

Namine thought about it for a second, took another bite, then nodded. "Yeah, I really like it."

"It is the best food in the world. But remember, it always tastes best with friends. Friends like you guys."

Axel grinned. "You know what I'm thankful for?"

"What?"

"You kids."

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 **And now that I have my obligations for a cute Thanksgiving special out of the way, we can get back to the real story… :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter/short story. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter twenty two! Don't worry, it will be a real chapter, I promise. :)**


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